Exploration

There is a continent long known but unexplored.
Africa.
A man might lose himself in its jungles, rivers – yes, and deserts too;
Knowing each particular spot as well as his own face,
But never grasping the whole.

We have travelled together these many years,
Sometimes joyfully and sometimes in sorrow.
I have explored you and you have explored me.
And we have found wonders even the natives cannot explain:
Like the Mines of Solomon or the source of the Nile.

Shall I find the source? Shall I find the source?
Shall I make you a gift of the dead king’s gold?
Burton and Speke returned from the Nile,
But I shall carry on, drawn by you and never returning;
For I am lost in Africa, lost in Africa.
Lost.
14.2.12