The Very Words

My flesh, it aches; it burns
My calloused bare feet are scorched by the rugged earth
I am wandering and I don't know where

My eyesight is fading and darkness seems to fall around me
Though my burning skin acknowledges the sun's unrelenting brutality
I am wandering and I don't know where

My dry, cracked hands are like the deserts around me
Open, extended; begging for even the smallest raindrop
Anything to ease the sting
As I wander and I don't know where

Beneath the burden of unbearable thirst, 
My parched throat cannot utter a cry
But cries would surely be in vain
As I wander and I don't know where

Vivid memories, enhanced by my arid surroundings
Recall legends of a fountain said to quench all thirst forevermore
In my hallucinations it is there before me
It whispers thoughts of peace to me
And beckons me near
While I wander and I don't know where

With all measure of strength left in my bones
I run towards the oasis before me,
Content to collapse and free my spirit into its mystic waters
No longer to wander where I do not know

But as I draw closer to the shimmering mirage,
It becomes real
It becomes tangible
And I dive in

When I surface, one like a man robed in shining white 
With eyes of fire and crowned with light
Breathes on me and I can hear the words 
Those words of such peace and power;
Now I see,
They are the words
The very words 
That I had long been wandering for