“Are you awake?”

From the darkness she spoke,

And my consciousness broke

From the deep.

“Oh, my Lady,” I said,

“In a day I’ll be dead.

Tell me, why would I

waste time with sleep?”

I got to my feet

At the click of her key,

And she stood in the door to my cell

With a cloak and a torch

And my father’s old sword,

Saying, “Take ths. And pray, use it well.”

With a blade in my hand,

We both cut through the sand

Casting paranoid glances behind.

Ah, but nothing would catch us,

Save tamarisk branches,

The moonlight, and succulent spines.

I asked, “Where are we going?

And how do you know me?

And why would you find me tonight?”

She said, “Stop asking questions

About the intentions

Of someone saving your life.

Just follow my light.”

“Are you awake?”

When I opened my eyes,

We’d already arrived

At the wall.

She reached for a groove.

The stone started to move

At the tenderest touch of her palm.

She shook off her shroud

And I knelt to the ground

At the glint of the gold round her head.

She held out her hands

Helped me to stand.

Then she kissed me and gave me a silk strand of thread.