The line in the sand

The line in the sand

I had to draw

was like the thin shadow

on the ridge of the dunes

when the sun starts mowing down

the world around

when the darkness looms

the line in the sand

I should have drawn sooner

was like the sleepless

possibility of chaos

of living on a fault line

the line in the sand

spiral poor and mean

sour and lean line drawn

with a flotsam stick

splitting the drowned

from the quick

that line in the sand

for us signalled

a mine in the sand

that would explode

and slay us both

the line in the sand

freshly-dug furrow in constant shadow

flanking dunes made by the hoe

like a toothless gum in a parchèd mouth

the greatest divide in that land

in which everything has gone south

so I drew a line in the sand

and we kept on either side of it

enamoured adversaries

who could and couldn't stand

on the one side of the pit

because someone buries

because someone had to quit

because someone must be banned

that damned line in the sand

estranged us, strangled us

for you it was a curse

because you didn't doubt

for me it was the ticket out

of that bloody wasteland

So I left behind the line in the sand

still drawn on that strand

marched on down the road

by walking away from you

my heart heavy and my head bowed

but with the steady stride

of someone who has gone through,

who knows it was the right thing to do.