There Was a Land

(a pantoum sonnet)

There was a land of sand and broken stone,
so parched in withered branch and thirsty thorn-
where stream nor river, lake nor sea, was known-
where light shown dim with each and every morn.

So parched in withered branch and thirsty thorn,
I heard amongst the stones, a bursting Spring-
and Light grew brighter with each passing morn;
the water gushed...each thorn abloom, to sing!

I heard within the stones a bursting Spring,
and sand was drenched in blossoms and in dew;
the water gushed and thorns abloom would sing! -
the Light much brighter with each day anew!

Where stream nor river, lake nor sea, was known-
I was a land of sand and broken stone.

(All praise and thanks to Him for His ever-constant presence.)

(A pantoum sonnet is a combination of pantoum and sonnet.  It's written in 14 lines
 of iambic pentameter, with repeating lines, as the pantoum.  The rhyme scheme is:
 a1  b1  a2  b2      b1  c1  b2  c2      c1  d  c2  d      a2  a1   (or   a1  a2) )