A New Visitor

The night smells like fire, like flames dancing in a stake. Some nights feel like days. There is so much light now, the moon is in the center of the sky, everything looks more vivid tonight. It feels like the night itself is alive.\nThere is a man, too. He comes into our village and light follows him. We all know what kind of man he is. Scholars are not strangers to us, but that does not make them less revered. They are tied to the past, to us, to this present and to our future. They heal us, and they also hold precious knowledge. The man approaches the firepit, he starts singing.