Mirage

My shoulders slump, bones parched and creaking.
My legs carry me across another dusty riverbed.

My eyes scan the endless horizon for solace.
In the distance, I spy an abundant haven!

Sprinting forward, I shout dulcet praises to my savior,
but collapse, just a skeleton in the sand.

I've been fooled, pained, and blind, in the time we've been apart,
And I have waited, thirsted, hungered, for the asylum of your heart.

So I raise my weary body and press on my lengthy hajj,
To a day when your embrace is no longer a mirage.

Today I saw myself in crisp white, and you in sharp black, hands held, at the altar.
It wasn't us of course, but I saw a plausible future there, for us, beneath the trellis.
Which means that, I must commit myself to making this fantasy a reality! Or I must pinch myself hard, and commit these high hopes to the fanciful rooms in my mind.