The gypsy girl

She swirled her myriad-hued skirt.
A velvety black night descended upon the desert sands.
A thousand burning stars
lit up and scattered themselves
on the dense black of the night sky,
as she cast her fiery glance heavenward,
daring them to defy her.
Her slender fingers conjured a silver moon
and like a child at play
threw it up and bade it stay.
A silver orb of light against the star-spangled sky.

Then she stood silent awhile,
silhouetted against the crests and troughs of the vast desert.
And suddenly, as if in a mad frenzy
She started to dance, like a possessed soul.
The fire in her eyes burned bright.
Her dusty locks, as enraged serpents, flew in every direction.
The tiara on her crown sparkled,
the bangles on her wrist clanged angrily.
The dancing necklace on her heaving breast
And the jangling anklets on her lively feet
Set in motion the world around her.
Together they danced
The dance of rain, the dance of life, the dance for change.

Every little grain of sand her feet touched,
Turned into a wild flower, steeped in colours of her skirt
Every part of the sky she touched with her hands
Gave birth to a promising cloud, dark as her hair.
Every time she twirled on her toes
A fountain sprang up, defying the tyrant sands.
She danced as if this was her only chance
She danced as if this was her last dance,
little nameless flowers at her feet,
silver lined clouds around her head
her body damp with the rebellious fountain water
And the world danced with her.

And then, as if tired and weary of her dance
She stopped, as suddenly as she had begun.
She waved her hands and the moon faded into oblivion
She looked towards the sky and dimmed the stars
she swirled her colourful skirt and the night evaporated.
As the first ray of the sun touched her body
The flowers at her feet disappeared
The fountains passed into nonexistence
And the clouds lost their lives.
She rained, reminiscent of her mad dance
She rained and rained
And lay beneath the sands, weary and hopeful
In wait for another night of magic, dance and life.