Hours of time on the telephone line

Today was an oasis in my desert of stress.

I watched the sand blow.

The camel spits.

There is a palm tree, a shimmering brackish pond and a man roasting meat over the fire.

We drank intoxicating tea and watched the flames dance.

His deeply lined eyes danced and shone. I imagined a fanaticism I had never seen.

But he was just a lonely man in the desert.

I couldn't have imagined this. The brightness and the relentless sand, scouring me clean.

I remembered the lush green Mississippi bluffs. I knew I would never see them again.