the air may have been more rarified then
and the wind cooler, the sun had
a different status, but nevertheless
it shone as it does now, fierce and remote

what mattered was to be prepared
the heights beckoned and climbing was
better than descending, gravity
seemed to lessen its hold and it was easier to see

a kind of connectedness, houses,
dusty roads where people were moving
and you could see that this place
was not the only one, nor was this city nor

this time, your heart was pounding and you thought
in vain about love, about having choices,
freedom or solace and you felt a foolish
longing to meet someone and then

you thought of the birds again, you'd
always been in awe of them, the way
they'd spread their wings at the last moment,
to set sail in the sky

Translation: Judith Wilkinson