Sand

There is no mercy, no truth, no knowledge of God in the land.
Treading out the mud for bricks I dance the ancient dance woe, I am weary
My father and his father and his of old tread as I, here by the Nile
One day or many? The sun knows. Each is the same, here in the mud
My body was strong but now, it wastes away
I wish I could go but
Out there in the desert there is sand sand sand
Each step down in the mud could be a step away from here
Tonight I will eat melons and leeks as the mud dries on my heels
The early sun will see I dance the dance aright, just as my father
Dawn comes sooner each day, the gods hate
I wish I could go but
Out there in the desert there is sand sand sand
I dream of milk and honey I dream of figs and vines
A land of my people, forests and seas, mighty cities
Moon, can you see this land from where you are?
What would I see across the desert?
I wish I could go but
Out there in the desert there is sand sand sand
Few enough days I have in the mud toilsome though they are
Away from here, away from the mud there are less days
Under the pitiless sun there are no melons or leeks, out there
My bones are bleached by the very thought
I wish I could go but
Out there in the desert there is sand sand sand
Enough of gods who want and want; they’re a bloodthirsty lot
this new one wants even my aged flesh to immolate on the gritty dunes
this one claims to have known an Abram or Abraham or something
I know the mud, the dance, the melons and leeks, the moon
I wish I could go but
Out there in the desert there is sand sand sand
How many times can I die? In the desert I may desiccate
a belly full of sand, blood boiled away, flesh peeled from bone, darkness
mud I am and going down to it I die every day under the sun
I will to go from Goshen and brave the whirling winds
I wish I could go but
Out there in the desert there is sand sand sand