It was a cursed day
everything had gone wrong on that first day of arrival
the volcano was particularly effervescent bellow our feet
the night was particularly dark
violently happy groups of people with flashlights were moving up and down the beach singing and shouting
the mountain goats knew better so they retreated deep into the rocky mountain above us
the sea water that lay at our feet sharply deepened and blackened
we were all done shouting at each other and had gone our separate ways still cursing
when we decided to call it a night we took the path up to the camp site
the dog was darker than the night
I turned around and he was gone
I shouted his name but the flashlights and the people singing made it hard to see or hear
I looked ahead and saw my friend following a group of people blindly
she was lost too
I finally found myself alone in distress
I walked further away from the people and the nighmarish singing to gather my thoughts
I thought hard on how to be in this wilderness
how to make the most of my solitary existence
I could finally hear my voice talking to me
this may well have been the descendant of a million ancestors
they told me to turn my flashlight off and be with the night
I saw that it was beautiful and calm
the stars were so bright and the sea could be heard further than the human rambling
I was less alone than I had been all day
I could sense the dog was safe
I could see
whatevahwhatevah 