Disappointment

We came. An illusion that set the square on fire kept us on the path.
We came from behind the rampart.
We shook off shadow, dust, sound, and shrouds
And then muttered: with God’s help we start, O lamp!
Ink is your own, and you the oil, the Quran, and the Gospel.
An epoch elapsed and another, but we kept turning around.
Out of hunger, we killed the spiny-tailed lizard
And slept in the shade of wormwood.
The chords played only wind poems for our sake
Until we soared around.
Then passed the strewn one by our caravan
Chewing the bone of his she-camel, disappointed.
We were two people
Silence the third
And tears our fourth companion.

DISAPPOINTMENT