as we cross the  mountain, we  can  walk 
 only at  night.  long ago,  someone here 
 must've  angered  the sun, and  today it 
 still burns  us strangely. but  with the 
 sunset the air comes  raining back  down 
 and gets  thick enough  to  breathe.  it 
 carries  with it  smells from far  away, 
 colourful sparks for  the imagination, a 
 sharp contrast for  the  stale  black of 
 the night.                               
                                          
 the others think  i'm young, they  don't 
 take  me  seriously  and  i   fear  they 
 snicker  a  bit.  you  usually  get  old 
 before  you  learn the trade  enough  to 
 take other  people.  but i do lead  them 
 safely     forward,     every     night. 
                                          
 however,  currently  there  seems  to be 
 something going  on  ahead. those around 
 the  corner   have   stopped,  shouting, 
 pointing.                                
                                          
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                                          
 my greatest treasure, the                
 book of stars,  is   a   combined   map, 
 calendar and timepiece as  long  as  you 
 know what year  it is.  every  page is a 
 grid  of  nine  starfields,  hand drawn, 
 below which  are written  coordinates in 
 both  space and time.  a lot  of  it  is 
 applicable  on earth,  but  not all.  it 
 hints  of  other  places  -  some  stars 
 reordered,  some  names  i  have   never 
 heard.   sometimes    the   dates    are 
 impossible.                              
                                          
 those pages  are exactly what i scramble 
 for right  now. i've  stopped breathing. 
 i  sling  open the book  of  stars a bit 
 too quick, spilling  all my notes on the 
 ground.  one  lands  on my foot, it is a 
 drawing  of  a  muscle cow, but  i could 
 care less right now.                     
                                          
 for it seems like there's a  new moon in 
 the sky.