The Boarding of Sand

This vast desert was once a city
I saw kings crowned here, and queens
but, in the latter days, in pity
they turned to ochre dust you’ve seen.

A deeper red you will not find
for blood is all in this vast plain
though winds can excavate the mind
the city shall not live again.

Sand that strips the flesh from bone
will scarcely care the fate of us
for dug from sand was I alone
a double decker London bus.

prompt from Applehouse Poetry