I'll Give It Your Name

They have now reached the sand dunes.

Too late, says Raoul.

Too late for what? asks Markus. We just got here.

Too late for Shu's poem, says Raoul. I KNEW he'd get out of it.

I don't intend to get out of it, says Shu.

I suggest we split up, says Markus, but remain within earshot.

I'll go that way, says Shu.

He has seen a promising clump of something.

You work here, Raoul, says Markus, and I'll work a few metres that way.

They split up and start looking for spiders.

Markus looks properly. He lifts things and is ready for what runs out from under.

Raoul watches his dad for a moment.

Then he watches Shu.

Shu is sitting in a slight hollow next to the clump, not moving anything.

Bet he's doing a poem.

Bet it has a dumb rhyme scheme.

Whatever that is.

I wish I was home.

A spider runs by him (Raoul).

Ye-hah! says Raoul. It has whiskers. It has a pattern on its abdomen.

He hasn't seen one quite like it before.

He catches it easily, and takes it across to his dad.

Look what I found.

They examine it together.

Shu is oblivious to the discovery. He is doing a poem.

It must be a good one, not like theirs.

Modern of course, a seven liner.

With themes of the sorrow of parting, and the onset of time.

Some natural objects.

And, he concedes, a hunt for a spider.

A Farewell to My Lifelong Friend.

No matter which way I turn
There are cold birds and tall grasses
The sun gleams on the water
Causing fish to stiffen like stars

You've forgotten me, and my fighting sticks
I waste my time hunting spiders
If I find one, I'll give it your name.