Shifting Sands Of Fate Poem by William Waterway

How fortunate I am not to be in dusty Marrakesh this season
walking the dark narrow side streets of medieval medinas
Instead, I leisurely walk nature trails and drive familiar roads
imprinting the island onto my autonomic nervous system
as I live these balmy summer days in unconscious bliss
In lieu of running from king cobras, I now glimpse garters
as I subconsciously replace the deadly with the benign

I remember coming across a boy of about seven in the Sahara
alone with a herd of tree climbing goats near a dry river bed
reaching into his jilaba’s hood he withdraws a clumpy handkerchief
smiling, he opens the handkerchief to reveal an orange and nuts
with bright eyes he extends his arm and offers for us to share
alone, in the middle of the Sahara – he offers for us to share
my wife, seeing the simple gesture - chokes and spills tears
down her dusty cheeks from seeing spirit in abject poverty

As I ride my bicycle and drive the Vineyard’s scenic roads
there is little need for me to think about locating water
which intercedes daily on my behalf between life and death
Neither will I see rows of freshly dug graves in shifting sands
but, for novelty, visit weathered headstones with manicured yards

In hushed quiet of deep desert – dunes of sliding sands make tones
as I listen - waves softly waft onto a sandy beach half-a-world away
a primal rhythm that lustily lulls me into unguarded dreams
Tomorrow, after eating a filling breakfast my teeth will be cleaned
an effort to hold onto my eating utensils until after my departure
unlike the dentistry practiced at impromptu Saharan souks where
local dentists sit on soiled blankets with rows of teeth – huge to tiny
next to tools of the trade resembling those seen in a horror movie
a horror filled with real screams as they pull teeth without anesthesia

As I sit in comfort of my island home - a short walk to Katama Bay
I hear a distant foghorn bellow a warning through the thickening air
a warning of being mindful of changing tides and shifting sands