DallAglio Page 1 John DallAglio 2B-1 In the Desert

I look in you, my Soul, in search of verity. Do I see the future, or the past? No, all is one. There is a deserta deep, gnawing, barren void in the depths of reality.

I gaze upon a naked, arid valleya splendid sea of sand bears a sunken chain. It waywardly warps its winding body in a serpentine fashion, Slithering through an endless fieldever meandering, perusing, seeking, searching. Scattered among the hills rise a few blades of grassthey stand majestically above the plane. But, all the green is crushd, destroyd by a maleficent whirlwind of sand.

Again and again, I gaze hopefully upon the blades (I pray they will survive). Again and again, I watch the desert manifest a malevolent maelstrom. Again and again, I mourn for the grass; they live only to be sent unto ruin.

Alas, there is light in shadowa shining gem gleams forth from the shroud of sand. Hope established in the lowest of formsthe ordinary has risen to grandeur.

A transfiguration into light! It is reminiscent of the dawn of time, the creation of my universe. The gem transforms into a blade of grass, glowing with a glamorous luminescence. A symbol of boundless beauty, I ascend alongside itclimbing a shining staircase to the skies.

DallAglio Page 2 I am Lord of the DesertKing of my PathRuler of my Purpose.

An oasis of beauty emergestrees glorify a sparkling pond, dedicated to my splendor. The shining water magnifies the spectacular gem of the sand.

I venerate you, my glorious Soul. Yet destruction looms overhead (Does a utopia actually exist?). Devastation plagues my desert in a mirage of truthendlessly darkening, consuming, destroying.

Fiery explosions engulf my valley. All is razed to ashthe apocalyptic annihilation of all. An obsidian rock emerges from the darkness, its demonic shadow challenging my salvation. But the light shines out of deathmy glimmering gem transfigures into a radiant diamond.

They stand as unrivaled powers above all else. Light and dark. Good and evil. Consubstantiationtransubstantiationfusionfission. All are combined, locked in balance. Good and evil, light and shadow. Life and death have become one.

In an explosion of blinding luminescence, all is created and destroyed! Neither can exist without the other. There is no good without bad, no night without day. The gem of sand resides where they once stood and escalates into the heavens. It touches the starsmerging them in pillars of lightilluminating vision. My eyes are resurrected. The epoch of creation retold in our desertI see our Soul anew. There are hundreds of gems, hundreds of shining blades of grass, But they are not mine; my blade is in the skymy mindmy bodymy very essence.

DallAglio Page 3 I am reborn through you, O our Soul! Our revelation repeated in every desert. Just as a flowing riverjust as a forestjust as a bustling cityjust as a poem of elegant words. They are all deserts; the purpose of our Soul linking me, you, the rock, the tree.

Other eyes search our sea of sand they follow their shining blades to build palaces of their own. Through their realization, they become like us. We are immortal gods. An ode to you, O our Soul. The desert is our path. Our purpose is our trident. Our belief is our kingdom. Our victory remains in the stars.