I have lived

the life I wanted,

done everything

there was for me

to do.

I have sailed on the Nile

on a felucca,

slept on Mount Sinai

with a stone

for a pillow.

I have ridden a camel

and sat around

a Bedouin’s fire,

gazing at the night sky,

the cosmic ash.

I have walked into the temple

at Abu Simbel

and followed the path

of the sun.

I have climbed to the top

of a pyramid,

surveyed the great expanse.

I have entered a tomb

in the Valley of the Kings

and seen its riches.

I have raced across a busy thoroughfare

in Cairo

by keeping in step

with the locals,

and safely reached

the other side.

Now my to-do list

is empty.

I have no ambitions,

I realize the futility

of shadow-boxing

with the world.

I am not going to win.

My only concern, then,

is to care for others,

to let the Spirit

fill my emptiness

and give me wings.

Jonathan Dunne

Sofia, 31 May 2026