My throat is parched, my lips are dry,
An ocean of sand surrounds my bare feet
Not a single rain cloud in the sky,
To keep at bay this confounded heat!

No water is left in my flask,
And the mainland lies oh-so-far.
To be there is all I ask,
Stranded in the heartlands of the heartless Thar

My feet are burning with every stride,
As I drag myself through unknown ways,
All this effort only to collide,
With a cactus withered by the sun's striking rays.

The sand itself looks like powdered gold,
Its intense shine blinding my eyes.
But the way it burns has often told
Me the fact that its precious appearance lies.

It lies there innocent as a child,
While its dunes seek to engulf me whole,
This unruly demeanor has me so riled,
That I seem to be losing out on my soul.

Is that a palm tree I see?
Solitary in the towering sands?
A highly realistic mirage maybe?
I have learnt not to believe in these lands.

The little will to live still inside me guides,
Me to go towards what's surely a lie,
I start crawling on my knees, my arms by my side,
Slowly... slowly... to the place where I'll die.

After what seemed like an eternity,
But was probably even more than that,
My hopelessness reached level infinity,
And my face rushed to kiss the ground where I sat.

My burning cheek was hit by a wave of relief,
And I looked down to water of the coolest blue.
An oasis! I hugged the very solid tree and cried with disbelief,
Miracles do sometimes come true.