1942
Cyrenaica
and a halt in the drama of the 
movement of man 
as the sirocco takes its toll 
each grain of sand bringing 
a stinging agony on skin unfortunate 
enough to be exposed

yet for the moment all is motionless 
as this ill-equipped band of guerrillas 
of the resistance waits 
ahead of pursuing Italian troops 
for a break and an opportunity 
to make good an escape to the 
allied lines in egypt 
a seemingly infinite distance 
from this nameless place 
in this indifferent desert- 
the witness over countless centuries
of man's journeys in pursuit of war and glory

night and the storm rages unabated 
and in his tent a frenchman 
dreams of home 
of a quiet and unassuming village 
near the Rhine 
the domicile of peace and tranquility 
and two ancient and gnarled 
walnut trees eternally ensconced 
in the mysteries of nature, 
an earth ever enduring that 
dwarfs the mind of man

is there anything in these 
epitomes of beauty that reflect 
upon the nature of human kind?

Yes.
for in these antiquities there is 
a history of an age 
that impacts the memories of the men 
who have seen them 
and for them man's journey on earth 
is far from meaningless

the sirocco rages on during 
this frenchman's time of dreaming
perhaps some day soon 
he will again see the serenity of france 
and these trees too

this desert will then fade from memory 
as another adventure in the life 
of a man used to tempting fate

the walnut trees will endure and wait