Offering bits of life to the nearly br Dead, a love bathed in red tea-d skies br An office of tremendous importance br Deserts on foot battling heat and soul’s thirst br Oasis’s flange- d palms and dates wave in dusk br Now, silhouetted people-d forms masked grey br Neither, black or white, journey’s midpoint br Just an indeterminate nation state br A-waiting, Love’s merciful tenderness br br (Mountaintop Cottage, Tennessee br ~ September 8,2006)br br Debora Shortbr br