desert, with a Bedouin guide.
Two hours off the Great Desert Highway,
leave the last signs of life back at the village of Rum.
Say “No, thank you” to the hotel and the luxury tent,
with its beds, cushions, and plumbing.
Your Bedouin make camp at the base of a layered desert bluff.
Dress for the cool air.
Wrap your head in a checkered, red-and-white keffiyeh.
Help with dinner, grilling chicken
and eating with your hands.
Have a glass of tea as sweet as candy, sitting on rugs
and conversing until the fire is gone.
The Bedouin have lived and wandered
this desert with their animal herds for thousands of years.
For the true wilderness of Wadi Rum,
sleep outside in the vast vacancy of the world.
Let your eyes take in the midnight sky,
as the colossal cosmos comes into focus.
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