in the distance I hear the first dull
roar, breeze and bass combined; an
awesome thunder breaks across
quaking dunes
strange and frightening as it seems,
underneath, I — with a keen ear —
feel a faint tremor of heavily veiled
fear; as if, through its frightening
expression, such a cacophony might
recoil, itself afraid
soon it recedes, a defeated din atop
waves of sand, rumbling, echoing
across this sparse and arid waste.
retreat has defeated it
2005
Ahmadi Oil Fields, Kuwait, 1991. Image: Steve McCurry