One From the Desert

I saw a face in the sand;
A breath away and worlds apart.
By time's steady hand
Buried in blades of wind.

I have been here before—
The shards of stars gathered too late.
I fall—and how do I breathe at all
When it is so cold I suffocate?

All here is earth, all here is frost;
The souls that linger admit they are lost.
In my pulse, I feel them weeping,
But they say they are only sleeping.

Will I—will I ever run away
To see something more than today?
The light is fading; rise of my fear:
Why angels must they suffer here?

I saw a face in the sand—
In a grey, desert land.
I know I should be running from
The pain that is soon to come.

What if tomorrow, I live?
What sins would You ever forgive?
Here I fall—how do I breathe in at all
When it is so cold against the coffin wall?

© 2018 Marten Hoyle