Our quest
has barely begun
and you are already tired.
Forget the sea.
Stop dreaming of the ships . . .
For you there’s no more
trading to be done.
I’m the last
voyage you’ll ever make
and was your first one as well.

Every way
you came by, every road
you took, I paved with my own hands
for your sake.
And you still complain!
Too heavy on your
shoulders, dead Sindbad?
That’s because
I carry on my back
eternity’s weight plus my own
and need your legs to take me around
in my travels between
night and day.

You will try
to escape, time after
time, I know: dream that you crush
my head with a heavy stone
every night, and dance
drunkenly over
my corpse.

But if you happen
to venture into that jungle
on your own, night around you
will only deepen; hear a serpent
hiss in every whisper, see a foe
in the friend’s eye.
And in short,
trap and poison shall become
your lot everywhere
you go.

Don’t try to escape
and forget the sea.
Stop dreaming of the ships . . .
For you, there’s no more
trading to be done.
Today you have unbound
the knot of my waiting and
from now on, Sindbad, you will
carry me on your
powerful back,
to explore
this island
together:
I and thou, you and I, as one.