a midst 10 005 strangers he walked
off to sit in the dirt as he started crying.
disappointment and loneliness flooded
his whole being, nothing to hold onto,
nothing...he headed down a dark tunnel
not giving a damn about any of those
thousands of people - there was him,
the desert and a nothingness that
seemed to seep through him like sand,
unstoppable, unstoppable...
but suddenly - a different vision:

s tunning beauty of the moment, a world all filled with wonders, what he had wanted oh so badly, suddenly seemed petty, measured by a new pureness he felt, the pureness of being alive; love was all around, amazingly and clear to see! had he been completely blind before?! he was lightheaded and grounded, utterly depleted and overflowing.

he laid his body down into the mud. and later gave it to the sun to dry. his new and brittle skin - it looked just like the endless plane itself: it's brittle surface and the desert sky would easily be holding up for all ten thousand five plus one- himself. ...that night he understood that the desert has many secret powers. he walked out under a sea of stars, heading away from the camp and straight into the darkness.