Writer in the Wild

Hey you there!

Adventurers, Go-Getters, Plot-Trekkers and Examiners of Maps

Do you have room for one more?

She is small, she won’t take up much room

She has no tools to help you dissect strange beasts

Nor to scavenge for food or to hew boats out of trees

She cannot stitch close a wound or wield a weapon high above her head

She will come laden with books and journals and papers flying

She will come with sparkling eyes and the thoughtful curiosity

And some of you will wonder, “What is the point of her? This girl who doesn’t

fight or forage or translate or weave, what use is she on this expedition to lands unknown?”

But she will hit the ground with boots running,

And be swift and uncomplaining

She will listen very closely to you,

And if you bother to listen to her

you will discover that she understands completely

Maybe even better than you do

She may stop your party to ogle at a running river

Or stop your scientists from crushing a flower between their broad unfeeling fingers

But you will be glad of her gentle sense of wonder

after the adventure is over,

when it is time to be still and remember

Charters of distant shores,

know that you may need her.

She will save your lives a dozen times over with her inky fingers and her wild hair blowing in some foreign wind

she will write your story and tell your tale in words so beautiful people will stare

People will think, and feel, and remember you

Come before it is too late,

Let her on the train, the caravan to faraway

If you ask me every Adventure needs a Writer

Just as every Writer needs an Adventure