Surveying a wasteland
the promise it once held
soil gone now only sand
That blows and flows where it will
Covering columns that once shined bright
marble white in the light
that gave shade by day
that were beacons In the night
broken and yellow base remains
the jaundiced tooth that causes pain
of the memory when the city square
was the center of a civilization’s affairs
where did they all go, the sand does not know
What held a people together was belief
in a future that would bring profit and relief
from drought that proved to be both liar and thief
the laughter of the past echoes against the present and its grief
Is it possible to cross the wasteland?
Is it possible to take Aqaba by land?
Anthony Roberts is a veteran of Baltimore and Afghanistan. He currently lives in New Jersey in a home with beautiful views and interlocking fields of fire.
He is the author of Pigtown and The Clearing Barrel.
You can follow him here.
Come hear Anthony Roberts reading live at the Savage Wonder Festival of veterans in the arts on May 29! SWF is sponsored by iHeartRadio, Believe Love Respect and their new BLR Cider, WPDH Vets That Rock, Legoland, Chronogram, Wallkill Savings and Loan, Red Clover Coffee, Havok Journal and so many more - have you gotten your tickets yet?
Want the best date night possible this Saturday night? Drinks, dessert, a hilarious live performance, professional actors, an intimate unforgettable space, pay-what-you-can tickets…it simply does not get better than this. So come on out and join us at our Parlor on Quaker Avenue for our staged reading of David Ives’ All in the Timing.
And please don’t plan on showing up the day of the performance - it’s only 16 seats, folks, we’re always sold out!