A Distant Mountain

My soul crackled like brittle paper yellowed by the sun
alone in the sandy wind braced by my shadow behind
my silhouette wavered like a flag in the stillness
My will overcome by silence
I breathed without exhale
A ghostly caress of searing heat
Air rising in waves
I glimpsed a stony dagger
Obscured by vision blurred
The peak shined brightly
As if dipped in white blood
My curled hand clawed the air before me
Reaching to touch this mirage
This illusion
A dream
My ancient body of living stone
Staggered through the serpentine sand
To find that mountain that called to me
From so faraway