Roots 2.0

The years pass as ephemeral as ever and I miss the desert,
its silence, the weight of dust.
I miss running,
my feet bare and my heart free,
my passage distorting mirages.
I miss the relative simplicity of the past,
the ease with which I fell and stayed in love.
I miss watching strangers doing their washing at the Nile,
while crushes give me piggy-back rides
and I dance with my best friend and her boyfriend.
The white heat go unnoticed as we made our way past armoured tanks and military towers,
men in robes taking a shit by the side of the road,
donkey carts beside our van, on the way to school.
Katy used to croon in my ear,
Gibson Stratocasters synonymous with drug deals,
Literature and Physics at the tip of my finger.
The years have passed and all I can do is dream,
yet again I dream and I am haunted,
the desert calls to me to come home
and I close my eyes to heighten my senses.
Let my heart be free again.