The Tombs at Meroe

I am traveling in the desert places.
The gauge says I have enough water to Suakin,
Enough to get to the sea: so I begin again--
But there is dust, the sun is beating
On my face, the engine overheating,
And I have a gallon of water to share with the engine.
There is no bus on this camel track, no traffic
And I do not want to die a Bedouin,
My bones in two weeks found
Picked, packed to the neck in a mound,
My skull used as a football by nahhabim
I know that if my brain heats up my eyes will die
So I must wait until sunset and pray for dark
Make a tent of the Rover, stay still as a stick.
In light there are no hills, and no salvation.

Unfazed by bread, temples, a swarm of angels,
Would Jesus have sold his soul for
love--
Only the touch of a cool hand on his face,
Or the water offered by the girl at the well?