In the Jungle Large

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Kakamega Forest, Kenya: photo by Doron, August 1999

The journey in darkness has a trivial jargon
For the cans of black coffee and ears like sprigs
Of an intelligent listening flower

This agitation is a kind of heavy wood
That you could hold a candle to
And never alter its unendurableness

There is nothing to do about voyaging
Fears except to jerk their brilliance
Out ahead of you like a rushlight like this

But what is illumined in the jungle large
Is a girl in narrow white sashes
Seated in your room at your writing desk

Afternoon sun, Mamfe, Cameroon: photo by Hans Kylberg, 31 January 2003

TC: In the Jungle Large (Dark Continent), Paris, April 1966, from The Sand Burg, 1966