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.