An attempt at a sestina.

The Visionary.

There was once a Visionary, of a City in the sand
His people would revere him for the secrets he could see
Each morning he would waken as the dawn sky turned to gold
And leave the City walls into the desert all around
Through the wilderness he trod, but known only to him
Lay a still oasis where he could contemplate the truth.

Meditating by the cedar tree, he divined the truth
As he sat and let his fingers sift through the grains of sand
There was no sound, no movement, perfect solitude for him
The far horizon shimmered for as far as he could see.
He would at last gaze at the sky, and notice all around
The heavens that were cloudless, the pure air bathed in gold.

So overhead into the west dissolved the sun of gold
The shadow of the cedar darkened his quest for truth.
His path was long and lonely as the twilight came around.
As he approached the city gates beyond the torrid sand
A multitude would wait for his arrival. He could see
Like disciples of a prophet, they thirsted to greet him.

"What have you seen?" they asked. They needed gilded words from him.
He would paint fantastic images for their own eyes to see.
"I have seen the Giant Lizard freeze to an effigy of gold.
I have seen an aged wizard hold the sacred book of truth
I have seen a young Nereid rise up from the sea of sand."
And they marvelled at his stories, as they were gathering around.

The next dawn came, in the desert, seclusion all around
But clearer than a mirage, cold remorse came over him.
And as he sat upon his rock, his spirit turned to sand.
"I have taken from them charity, I have weaved them lies, not truth
I have given them false visions in exchange for there gold
I have invented all these secrets for them to vainly see."

"My soul is blank, as empty as the sky. Yes now I see."
His being was as barren as the wasteland all around
The truth was hard to bear at once, but he must bear the truth
For reality, unspeakable, had been shown to him.
His existence was too clear now. He had given them fool's gold.
As nightfall came, he retreated to the City in the sand.

"What did you see? What did you see?" voices clamouring around.
"I have seen nothing. Just sand," he said. They mocked and jeered at him.
But the truth befell more precious than their gold.