Migration

Desert Night, by Abdusalam A AlTuwijri (2004)

There is only desert

to my left and my right

Like links in a chain

bound together we trudge

I know few of their names

I know all of their pains

My shoes wear so thin

But the sweet cool evening

tastes like a lover’s kiss

and the first stars twinkle

in their blue distant sea

I am reminded of childhood

of father’s nets in the sea

and laughing in the foam

at my brothers struggle

to claim all the fish

Then after the sundown

the feast we would share

A shame that my belly

can’t share in my memories

My child is small

she will have no memory

of the blessed waters

I look at her face

staring up at the trees

that have managed to thrive

in this desolate place

And now the full moon

has risen and shines

in her two innocent eyes

I look straight ahead

and take one more step.