I stopped—
unable to take another step.
And yet, this is why I came.
Crossing ascents and descents,
untiring,
walking beside my own shadow.
Cutting a passage
through the frozen chest of seas—
this is why I came.
With planets, distant stars,
with comets
millions of light-years away.
Dissolving Earth’s clouds,
arriving at last
as molten sunlight—
this is why I came.
And yet—
this small, congealed darkness
remained.
This thin residue of cold
lingered
between us.
This short stretch of road
remained unnamed.
Still.
Dark.