I once had an encounter
with a man in the desert.
In his hand, a message
his clothes ragged.
In his eyes, an aimlessness
the thousand-yard stare,
but somehow that aimlessness
hid a purpose laid bare.
I knew not what to think of him
I knew not what to say to him.
But I knew that he didn't belong here
for he had discovered his purpose.
I could not but stare at him
gasp and wonder
where he came from
what was his message.
I knew from the instant
that he was not just a messenger.
He was something more
something that did not belong
in this crooked, dark,
bleak and purposeless world.
A remnant of a better world,
a warner of the future.
A souvenir of the world that could have been
a glimpse of the world that could be.
He passed me by
and disappeared, out of sight,
in the dusts of the desert,
in the sands of time.
