Tears of Sand

Ayub portrays the toil, turmoil and agonies of shepherds grazing sheep in hot arid deserts, in this verse, exclusively for Different Truths.

Whirlwinds dance,
Shrouded in sheets of humidity,
They stay in a trance of dance.

Each day the flock of sheep
In hot burning graze lands
Of small thorny trees
And brackish shade
Fall upon each other
To find a reason to breathe.

Shepherds
With dry eyes,
Tanned faces and
Empty starving stomachs,
Tie burning sand to their feet.

All day long under
The skeletons of their hand
With drooping eyes
Far away but a little above
The surface of the desert
They see a congregation of mirages.
Sun, adding heat to the extremity of their thirst
Slowly coils down.
Drenched in the mud of Sindh,
Dying to sleep
With thirsty trembling waves,

Where should these poor go?
For even when they weep
Grains of sand fall in place of tears.

Photo from the Internet