Written: July 22, 2026 for a contest sponsored by Brian Strand
************
We sit at this emporium
on the outskirts of the oasis;
I watch you
while your eyes inhabit the moon.
Tell me—what forgotten tide
is tugging at your silence?
mine,
or the phantom
wearing your heartbeat,
as cedar smoke cleaves to your coat?
The night offers
no reply.
Every moonrise
it buttons brief memories, tight as cold stone,
as dew phosphoresces on iron rails
meanwhile,
your discarded book drinks darkness...
Only the window holds our
two reflections, never touching.
So—
I am living on your borrowed light,
gathering myself from evanishing warmth
your gaze forgets to retain—
silver by sepulchral slate piece,
salt whitening the shoreline.
I become a constellation
linking stars and tears,
luminous enough to guide the lost.
Yet still, the silver rim
of your cup remains.
It proves even borrowed moons
leave tides behind,
washing over the stagnant coffee left between us.
Impressed upon those desert dunes
that stretch back o'er the years,
my lonely prints hear fading tunes
as sand seals wind-swept fears.
A fervid gust comes whisking past,
disrupting settled pains.
Warmth enwraps my heart at last,
emitting torrid rains.
No fair mirage could conjure this
I taste from deepest springs.
No cactus thorn could pierce this bliss
that hearts at risk can bring.
This arid wasteland starts to thrive
as streams of ardor flow.
No dreams of grace must I contrive
for blooms of love now grow.
A splendor-realm from 'twining roots
has breadth beyond this land
where passion's sky-borne geyser shoots
erupt from burning sand.
A beautiful oasis shines
where barren ground once laid.
A set of footprints now defines
the melody that’s played.
I live in an oasis
One formed by the power of electricity
To pump day and night
From The River.
Day and night everyone along its shores
Waters their crops and yards, gardens and fields.
In the few years I’ve lived here
I’ve planted almost 500 trees and shrubs
To transform an old alfalfa field
Into a thicket of greens
Haven for mice and snakes, birds and bees.
Every day I faithfully reroute the irrigation
So that in a week it all gets watered.
If I don’t within just a few weeks
Everything would stop growing
And within just a few months
Everything would be dead.
It’s sobering to realize how tenuous our hold
On a place is.
Without electricity this whole farming valley
Would dry up and wither away.
With electricity, coming in fact from the water itself,
It is an oasis of life, calm and green
Filled with the joy of birds and bees
Humans and their trees.
My own place in it is temporary of course
But someone will come after
To keep the pumps going
Keep the sprinklers flowing
Until they don’t
And this moment in time is forgotten
As all things must be.
(5/5/26)
F - For every thirsty throat in every season
R - Relief it gives like an oasis in a desert
U - Unlike others, it is served before and after meals
I - Irrespective of age, it is liked by all equally
T - Taste buds long to savour its each and every bit
S - Sugar or jaggery can be used in its making
A - An elixir on earth to serve on every occasion
L - Loaded with pieces of nuts and cubes of
colourful fruits
A - A rare feast to every eye it provides
D - Day or night, the more you eat the more you
want
Regret is my hopeful desert
Blooming prickly sorrows
Larger than saguaros
What ifs as vultures fly
As virga clouds pass by
Watering lapis mirages
Flowing to retro success
In a palm-limned oasis
Of dream-filled love and embraces
‘Til what ifs disappear with dawn
In time to rouse and mow my lawn
Germinating seed in the desert shoots
Wind dispersed the grain as oasis fruit,
And sap nourishes the root.
Water makes a taproot grow strong,
Splits the bud, breaks the husk all along
Shoots stem and petals to where they belong.
The seed sprouts above
With a blooming love
Shining through the grove.
The root deepens,
The grain steepens,
Raindrops weaken
The bright petals
And the seed endures and settles.
The pretty campus damsel
Is on the rove this nigh night
She easily ropes in loaded men
As she gyrates her curvy bosom
Her Torrie's remind one of nivarna
And you can see Catalonia peaking
From the little black dress she wears
She undaunted that we are on campus
With girlies being on plentie Barbie rules
And ensnares with ease and natural charm
She's a beauty to behold and loves dances
On the dance floor she easily baits boys
Be they boys or men her nature easily snares
As long as you're pickups are loaded
You are enroute to this exiting encounter
Falcon heights are soars and shores you win
With her you will sure taste the allures of
Zamzam that beautiful city of beauty
Tasting what is the reserve of demigods
Hoping you are not eternally damned
For love is but a divine thing and sensual
Sensualized forbidden pleasures she wares
Oasis
I wish you two things
Everything that
makes you feel better
And nothing what
makes you suffer
I promise I’ll love you
In my heart will keep you
If you whenever need me
You can count on me
I will love you regardless
What life can bring
My breathing cause
My only trace
Worshipping you forever
Is my soulmate case
You’re the Soulhalf I desiderate
The significant other, Helpmate
Preprayed benevolence
In submissive haven
Second self Helpmeet
Alter Ego Twin Flame
A beautiful frame
My sweetheart
My hubby Better half
One I cherish
above all others
My consort special
someone luvver
My first and only love
Rock solid pillar
Safeguarding armor
Oasis, Treasure Above All
Kindred soul Companion
A labor of love
Cast iron chemistry
Of qualitative symmetry
Altar and shield
With the heart of a cherubim
The adorable divine offering
In fascinating combinatory
Someone on the TV
told me bright sunshine
red sky at night
the outlook is fine
and the app on my phone
says blue skies are due
but when has the forecast
ever been true
it seems like the Sahara
with no oasis in sight
and just another foolish dream
to see me through the starry night
a voice on the radio
said the storm will disperse
things won't go south
or take a turn for the worse
but it's an ill wind won't blow
all the grey clouds away
no matter what
the weatherman may say
it was an ill wind
blew for you to stray
and it's an ill wind
won't bring you home today
Promised oasis
hidden in banality
suburban secret
Across the space of desolation,
enfolding the desert of existence
where instead of thornbush
the Holy Spirit grows juniper,
the journey in the labyrinth of torment
is to reach the oasis of bliss,
from where He calls to come to the waters.
I travel from the abyss of despair
on the blessed inward journey
through the layers of consciousness,
perceive the radiance of the divine beacon
in the sanctum of the devout soul,
illumining the corridor to the abode of peace.
The portals of the inner domain then open,
where for me God blooms the piety lotus,
suffused with the gleam of His grace.
Insightful of the benevolence of God,
my soul shines with ethereal radiance
like the flaring brilliance of a billion suns
in the infinite depth of the inner space.
In my self-searching spiritual odyssey
toward the edge of enlightened eternity,
I perceive His gracious support,
making me glow in the galaxy of acumen,
turning me into a living light.
firey spirit
rainbow colored wings floating
bird bath water cool
delicate ribbons
swaying with wisteria ~
spider's oasis
If I was to be gone tomorrow,
I would surely regret today.
Just as I would all these wasted days, months, and years.
At peace when saying I no longer fear death.
It's all boiling over now....
Everything I've fought to repress.
Feeling a heaviness
Steadily crushing my chest.
Drowning in shallow pools of nothingness in my mind.
Once an oasis, my forever hideaway.
became a small alcove, unreachable on most days.
On a shoal deep within.
Scattered throughout the sands, lay the remnants of my being.
From a distance
It is the most beautiful thing
An oasis created by God
Out in the middle of an empty sea of grass
A symbol of life abounding
With the chattering of birds
And the scurrying of the animal
It is a place to be left alone
Admired from a distance
But it should never be destroyed
Nor should it be bothered in any way
It is there for a reason
A reason neither you nor I can ever understand
© Poem – VII/II/MMXXV
LRET
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