after a time
one can wonder
if a thing dried up
was ever there at all
or if it was a mirage
like water in the desert
tempting you toward what?
death perhaps.

the well is empty now
of the contents of the past
those blood-salt waters
that left the throat parched
and the body desparate
for more of the same
the more you drank,
the more you drank;
but those days are gone
and the well still glimmers
full now of the present
to drink from til’ refreshed
without need to return
unless you want to
and i do, from time to time
to pause and look
and see myself staring back –
content.