A good rain fell, muddied waters, br Pooled in my head, fixed and assimilated br Discord with earth and breath br Vanished, estranged by night, br Teased expectation from the ether, br Will' the wisp as stroke and kiss br Seduction roots in minds malignant br Deny the axiom of blinding day br Succumb unto the strangers' charm br Imagined success is ecstasy's betrayal br Bitter juice from exotic climes br Lured by glowing reviews, but fickle calm, br Broken fruit tasted and rejected br Brown skin sloughed onto indifferent ground br Sullen as lost beauty's poison br Beyond the reach of starved limbs, numb, br Quenched to impoverished core br On the brink of extinction br Without resource in store or future br Alone dreading preservation, ambivalent to br Meagre succour prolonged privation br Curse the pale new sky, each mourn, br Down pour drown and flush it all br Scour horizons, cleanse the struggle skin br Dim probation of wretched halfway frame br Troubled bones in an unmarked delta flee, br Ebbs the tide, flows a river, beats the sea.