Discovery

Into the desert
under a starry canopy
I crushed red earth
beneath my sandal leather
 
Crisp night exposed
my spirit to the air;
 
crystaline grits spoke back
to my every step,
 
as a weighty breeze swept away
my midnight tracks
 
My moonlit shadow strode on,
gripping at my waste
 
Its keffiyeh flapped about
and mimicked fiery hair
 
 
Dim impressions of ancestral art
guided me by instictive measure
 
as I crept clandestine
leaning on knotted staff
through many a canyon crevice
 
to return as promised
and retrieve our kindred treasure
 
 
Marked by an embossed crescent
was a sign of the entry to the cave
 
Aracnid silk made for a curtain
 
A mat etched in slithery motif in-pressed, "Unwelcome!"
 
I knew I had to be brave
 
 
Twisting the thread like cotton candy onto my wooden wand,
I dripped oil and ignited a flame
 
then slowly stepped inside
to vindicate our family name
 
 
Camel bones marked that hellish spot
as a place not fit for the living
 
Sweat soaked through my under garments
and the sulfur burned my nasal cavities
 
The heat and heaviness was unforgiving
 
 
For in this volcanic underground
a thousand years ago,
my forefathers burried a commodity that once had made us rich
 
They chose instead a life of austerity;
 
wealth and titles it was said they'd ditched
 
 
But the time had come to make my claim for glory, fortune and fame
 
Into the spot clouded in gaseous billows I diligently dug
 
Dreaming of all my heart's desires,
I increased the elbow grease
and steadied my back
 
Yet after a lunar lit journey and secret mining mission
all I found were illicit drugs!
 
 
Turned out my family were lords after all
but not of the royal kind
 
Hashish was on the menu
one millennium ago
And we sold it in the trainloads:
 
fraudulent assassins
who grogged our enemies blind
 
 
I covered up our clan's great shame
and left in bitter disgrace
 
My tears poured salt on the arid sand
 
Now only the moonlight, God and scorpions know our ancient's true face
 
 
I dare not tell my children of the trials of that night;
of how I came across
a most ignoble reality
 
Like my fathers before me
I teach them to work hard,
live honest, speak truth
and walk with dignity