Tishmandu

Tishmandu My eyes can see That the sand is like sea And it stretches to the end of my mind On a ship set to sail with four legs and a tail Tishmandu I set out to find Now the wind is of sand and can lend a hand in tearing the flesh from your bone So your head you keep wrapped your snaps keep snapped and you never travel alone The heat at midday is to kill and waylay if the body and soul are not one So you pray to the east and prepare for slim feast begging passage under full sun Caravan of the seed born on camels that breed in an endless march between wells Over lost count of dunes under God and full moons blessing passage with incense and bells At the end of the day when gold turns to grey and the stars brighten the skies A device is brought forth to determine true north and the path where Tishmandu lies On the fortieth morn pressing lips to the horn a signal beckons us wake Leaving water behind on a course now refined the final leagues we must take Tishmandu is a place where a white mans face has never been seen or allowed But the people have need and my service agreed in a land under sky without cloud Like feathers of blue in the distance I view the flags on top of the walls Though my limbs are worn my very fabric is torn I move towards Tishmandu halls At last in the shade a walled shelter is bade I meet with the maker of rules A service I bring but to rules I must cling or a tortures price must be paid Twenty days and seven in the passes of heaven I treated the sick and the lame With rules on my mind the medicines I grind The devil of Tish for to tame As I washed the sick and avoided blunt stick the God of the desert did smile For the people made well in this fortified hell where spirit is subject to trial In the end I am paid for the journey I made and the healing and medicine new On my camel back salted meats in my pack I Bid farewell to Tishmandu RAMA, Ink