Touching the sky.

Vast as an ocean,

The expanse beyond

The reach of the eye.

Deep as Balk-hole,

Its mysteries impossible

To spy. For fear once inside

You will never be able to fly out.

Far as the farthest star,

No matter how loud I try,

You won’t be able to hear my cry.

Silent as a desert,

In the middle of the night,

With no moonlight

Or shimmering lights that of satellites,

Where the surface of the earth

IS wrapped by swarthy shantung dropping from the sky tight.

These were how I felt

When you died.

The immense silence I felt

Paradoxically Motionless when you left.

The feelings I felt ,

When they lower you down

Into the ground,

And I ….

Said goodbye.

Copyright Haileselassie Girmay

2/2/98