Sparse life counted in rabbits and mice
Hawks, vultures, and desert people traders
Until Italy declared itself colonial master
Then oil resources were found and sought
When war came, the desert wasn't changed
But men in tanks and jeeps drove about
Killed each other in the desperate test
When it was over and one side finally won
The sun still rose on the far horizon
No one thought the land was worth much
But bodies of the dead still lay there
Like the burnt out dead hulks of armor
Forgotten, to bleach in the sun and heat
No one noticed or bothered the hulks
Unless interfering with oil commerce
Or blocking the passage of the nomads
But the desert itself remembers the dead
Uses the human bodies, for food
And covers them, as they sleep
With hot sands, in reverence
For nothing in the desert is forever
Life and the desert continue
Beneath the hottest sun
And driest winds
