Emil Orlik (German, 1870 – 1932) Oasis in the Desert. c.1913
Drypoint and roulette printed in light brown on laid cream paper
11.7 × 19.8 cm (4 5/8 × 7 13/16 in.) sheet: 19.9 × 28 cm (7 13/16 × 11 in.). Courtesty of the National Gallery of Art open access
Oasis
We have come to a place
in the desert where water is life,
to replenish spirit. Here,
things are calm
yet glinting—sunlight
off mirror, off silver
knife edge. Sand is sculpted
into dunes and divots. Sky
blue. Everything mirage.
But there are trees, some respite
from heat that twists Dali-like,
bends, flattens, shifts
shapes, and melts things away.
No sandstorms. No dehydration.
Thirsts quenched. No
restlessness or starvation.
No despair. Our lives not
mere dropping grains
of sand through hourglass.
Not this moment.
No, not now.
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