OASIS

An eerie and desolate wind
whipped and whirled,
devilishly bitter; to bite,
stab and sting
the reddened flesh
of my worn and frozen face.
Winter’s wrath; a season scorned,
making up for time lost.

I stood there on that deserted snow drift
and I squinted and searched for a refuge
most kind and loving.
My breath was squeezed from my lungs
And let anxiety wreak havoc
with my panicked mind.
I ‘thirsted’ for the quenching taste
of a potion to warm me from within,
a sanctuary from that ravaged storm.

On my horizon you stood
to shine your beacon and guide me
to a safe and protected place.
A haven for my weary soul to rest
and take nourishment in the taste
of a warm and loving kiss.
The arid “sands” of that arctic desert
disguised as winter’s wonderland,
beat against my leathered skin
to blind my eyes with their frozen needles.

I had nothing to lose, so I shielded my face
from the buffets of those crystallized darts,
and moved toward the oasis that was your heart.
You never waited for me to reach you,
you always rushed to me, arms opened
to draw me into your fiery embrace.
Your weak and fragile arms wrapped around me
and sheltered me from the cold, to share
your body heat and melt
my glacial façade. You uncovered a smile,
the facial manifestation of my jubilant heart.

You gathered me into your bosom and consumed me
with the pulse that we had shared
for more than thirty years.
A sultry and compassionate shelter;
a fortress of a stirring, dedicated devotion,
my sanctum, my port in that storm, my asylum.
My heart had recharged and my flesh
melted from your solicitous caresses.
I sought you out in life’s wintry torrent
to have you become my harbor of tranquility
and chamber of vitality.

Your memory remains an oasis in this desert of my frozen soul.