Desert Road

I keep having this dream

I had it again last night

A desert road

Always the same one

The air dry and hot

Perfect

I can breathe here

The road sprawls out before me

Red rocks shimmer in the distance

I can feel them humming

With a secret energy

Calling me

Beckoning me on

I marvel at how they effortlessly touch

The white-blue gradient sky

A sky as hot as the earth

Stretched too thin with clouds

The desert makes the sky appear bigger

Wider

Than any sky I've ever seen

The beauty of it all overwhelms me

Tears leak from my eyes

Tears of joy and relief

Home at last

My spirit says

With a contented, settled sigh

I lie down on the front seat

Of our car

I put my head in my lover's lap

Stick my bare feet out the passenger window

While he drives us through the desert

I'm home now

I can relax

Joy swells inside me

The smell of baking sand

And hot asphalt

Rising up from the road

Convince me the dream is real

The low drone of music

From the radio

The vibration of the car beneath me

The warmth of my lover beside me

The hot air

Pleasantly cooled

By movement

All convince me it's real

Imagine my disappointment

To wake up

In my own bed

Under a pile of blankets

Yet still freezing

Trapped in a frozen wasteland

Imprisoned by snow

Inside a frozen tower

Made all of ice

I cry

This time in hopeless despair

And my tears freeze on my face

I try to breathe

But the icy air

Pierces my lungs painfully

I can't get a proper breath

I can never get warm

I'd rather dream of the desert

Of hot air

That my lungs can manage

Of the magical red rocks

Pulling me to them

With some invisible spirit magnet

Of the wide open sky

Of freedom

Of home

If I can't be there

I'd rather dream I'm there

I go back to sleep

And hope my dreams

Take me some place warm