Thursday, December 26, 2013

A Different Sun

I just heard this bit of poetry, and am putting it here just to save it. I heard it on a BBC program called "A History of the World in 100 Objects;" this particular episode was about a woodcut of a rhinoceros. The artist had never seen a rhino, but heard about one that had been sent from India as a gift to the King of Portugal. Sketches were done of the animal, and this poem was written in its honor. For me, it encapsulates why I love to travel.

I am the rhinoceros brought hither from dusty India,
From the vestibule of light and the gateway of the day,
I boarded the fleet bound for the west, its bold sails undaunted,
Daring new lands, to see a different sun.

Lovely.