Clink-clank! Clink-clank!
Chips of sandy rock glide through thick air.
Another droplet falls from my brow.

“Don’t stop now, I’m almost there.”

My father’s face appears in the clouds of sand that enclose me.
Whether it’s his presence or my need for water,
I work harder to finish what he began.

“Don’t stop now, I’m almost there.”

The earth sings a song with twirling winds.
It grips my back, pushing and pulling
harder with each gust.

“Don’t stop now, I’m almost there.”

The sand swallows me as the wind takes my feet.
Down, down, down…bang!
I cry out to my men…

“Don’t stop now, we’re almost there.”

The sand is now his resting place
while it remains our enemy.
Days become tedious...the rocks pile higher.

“Don’t stop now, we’re almost there.”

Feet of crimson red, hands calloused white.
We gaze upon our masterpiece, with him in our minds.
His face in the wind, we know he watches with us tonight.

“We can stop now, we are here.”