Welcome, dear friend,
back to the lowland
where we harvest joy and till our grief
where elation is paired with bitter remembrance
that comes without respite and grants no relief.
We are destined under the harsh sun
of aporia to dwell; certitude
is bound to evade us for nude
of it we were born, and so shall depart
while the art that we live is the practice to be
contentedly contradictory:
Sturdy body down here, yet one of that kind
Who comes from the highland
naked soul, tender mind.
(For my friend Grahame on his return from Traverse 2 of the “Rim of Africa”-hike, 7 October 2026. I completed this traverse in 2023 on this very day – a day of elation for my fellow hikers and me; a day of horror for humankind as we would later learn. And thus a day to be remembered with a heavy and a light heart since.)