untitled
THE FINAL PLAIN
Dawn breaks;
The desert awakes.
I stand ready to take
The ultimate Test.
Should I fail
I will not see
The morning star;
Should I succeed -
Kolinahr!
My task -
To walk from Wall to Obelisk
Across The Plain of Thought
In the heat of desert day;
Then, in the chill of desert night,
To return to the fragment of Wall
All
Unseeing.
The sun's disk
Touches
The Obelisk's tip.
The Priestess gives the Sign.
I go
Knowing
That only death or success
Will be mine.
Heart beat.
Wings beat.
Stride beat.
With the Universe I am one;
Heart and Soul and Earth and Sun.
I reach my goal without risk -
My hand touches the Obelisk.
Now, in starless darknight,
I must use my insight
To return across The Final Plain;
There, now back again.
I hear a sehlat snarl nearby.
I cannot stop, though I may die.
For the whole Test's duration
Nothing must distract my concentration.
Death does not strike as I walk on;
The danger is past; the animal gone;
My journey ends across the Sands of Gol;
I reach out - and touch the Wall!
"Kolinahr!" the Priestess cries;
As she removes the cover from my eyes.
I blink up at her in the morning sun;
The Symbol is mine, my task is done.
But wait!
Another voice is calling
Across the voids of space.
I must refuse the Symbol
And resume my proper place
On the bridge of the Starship 'Enterprise';
My prize -
A friendship beyond compare.
My destiny lies - elsewhere.
*9601.01
"The Final Plain" is inspired by Spock's narrative at the beginning
of Chapter 14 of "I Am Spock".
CONTENTS
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