b h a g . n e t    visual and conceptual exchange    b h a g . n e t

   
bhag cover page          bhag literary art          John Clay literary art

In the sweet desert,
the terrifying desert,
unknowable, beautiful, sustaining
the essence of the human is perfected.

Life is learned everywhere, but living
is learned in the desert, because the desert
must be sought for and in the desert
you must seek
for everything.

I’ll walk from the outside of my life
into the center of the desert, and you

are the sweet desert where I’ll journey,
the hard ground that will bruise my feet,
the dry brush that will cut my new skin.

You are the vastness that will exhaust my strength
and strain my will.

You are the wilderness that will tempt me
and the place where I’ll fight demons.

You are the warm cave where I’ll be safe,
the small patch where I’ll plant my garden,
the unexpected fruit that will sustain me.

In you my essence will be perfected
and my living made human.
And this living, human,
finally, will be
for you.

© 1989 John Clay