#blue swallows

The Blue Swallows

Across the millstream below the bridge Seven blue swallows divide the air In shapes invisible and evanescent, Kaleidoscopic beyond the mind’s Or memory’s power to keep them there.

“History is where tensions were,” “Form is the diagram of forces.” Thus, helplessly, there on the bridge, While gazing down upon those birds – How strange, to be above the birds!- Thus helplessly the mind in its brain Weaves up relation’s spindrift web, Seeing the swallows’ tails as nibs Dipped in invisible ink, writing…

Poor mind, what would you have them write? Some cabalistic history Whose authorship you might ascribe To God? to Nature? Ah, poor ghost, You’ve capitalized your Self enough. That villainous William of Occam Cut out the feet from under that dream Some seven centuries ago. It’s taken that long for the mind To waken, yawn and stretch, to see With opened eyes emptied of speech The real world where the spelling mind Imposes with its grammar book Unreal relations on the blue Swallows. Perhaps when you will have Fully awakened, I shall show you A new thing: even the water Flowing away beneath those birds Will fail to reflect their flying forms, And the eyes that see become as stones Whence never tears shall fall again.

O swallows, swallows, poems are not The point. Finding again the world, That is the point, where loveliness Adorns intelligible things Because the mind’s eye lit the sun.

Public domain image

Licensed under GNU free documentation

Later, when you can support the weight of your belly again ;) you really should be off. However good a time you have over memorable breakfast / lunch, you can hardly spend all day dallying at a restaurant, and besides I’ll need to get off my behind and walk off the extra pannekoek (or two) that pushed me into that ‘uncomfortably stuffed’ direction.  Kaapschehoop is home to South Africa’s only wild horse herds, though they’ve gotten less international attention than their counterparts in the Namib desert [1]. They were not always here! They were left here after the gold rush petered out, the Boer war left many ownerless, and cattle ranchers left for greener pastures [2].

Wild foal Picture by Misha le Grange

Wild horses in Kaapschehoop Picture by Misha le Grange

Wild horses Photo by Misha le Grange

There are tens, nay fifties (haha… nay, neigh…) of kilometers of trails from which to enjoy the natural scenery, wild horses and rare blue swallows [3]. Most trails are meant to be done over 2 – 5 days, with self-catering huts along the way. Sadly I didn’t get to do any multi-day hikes while traveling around the U.S., so this is my chance! I will opt out of day hikes and commit to 3 days on the trail. :)

Riveting references [1] Wild Horses of the Namib accessed 12 Sept 2014 [2] Wild Horses on Horseback trails accessed 12 Sept 2014 [3] Blue Swallows on Kaapsehoop Info accessed 9 Sept 2014