d e s e r t

the temptation is not
gold or coins or women
or men
or men
or songs
it is not so glamourous as all that
the true glamour came under the waters,
with your kiss



under the covers with your baptism
honey and locust and love were there
penitence and tears and camel hair
and you loved me
and i loved you, and that was all we
knew
the temptation
is when my view of the jordan fades
far out, here in the desert
awake and startled in the desert
of lust and longings, frights and fears
jackals and lilliths
whispering, lisping, that it was never true,
the voice, the lover who came to you
and called you beloved
the whirlpool, the sandstorm
after the gentle blessing
but you are still calling me: loved one
still telling me that, with a word,
you have given me the power to tell them:
silence