Footprints I Leave in the Sands of Life - a poem

There is a string of prints
in the sand behind my back
showing the travails of this crossing
as I wander in solitary search
for something to latch onto firmly
a belief, a job, even love.


The wind arises as I pass
the center of this barren waste
erasing those steps from the earth
leaving me with no trail back
yet I push onward still hopeful
to find an oasis out here.


The desert is naught but life
whose shifting dunes we all traverse
as we seek some distant goal
be it the above listed tangibles
or some other dream still hidden
inside the mirages that surround me.


There is only one pair there
in the sand as I stand
here on a crest buffeted hard
by the cruel winds of Fate
seeking some solace inside my soul
that perhaps some other was here.


The nights are dark and lonely
the days are painful with rejections
as my temper lashes out wildly
at the words on the screen
then the wind dies with sunset
letting me leave some mark here.


Even if I leave no mark
in the sands the wind moves
I know there are other blazes
made on people, places or words
that will mark my lonely trek
other than footsteps in the sand.


Above me, vultures circle on thermals
raised from the day's clear skies
letting the sun beat down warmly
on the grit I tread upon
as I move to some far place
seeking what might be over hills.


Perhaps like the dinosaurs paces preserved
by some means in soft loam
my steps are being saved now
fossilized to show my foolish path
as I walk onward into Life
seeking the future, and Hope's payoff.


4/13/11 - Dyfedd Rex (edited 24Dec2012 for errors and form)