The Traveller, an Ode
Ageless yet ancient
Weathered faces
Hands worn raw
The battle fought within
Man versus everything
Gale force piercing winds
Painful driving rainstorms
Hardened brutal hail
Snow and frigid death
Oppressive draining heat
Fierce terrain
Razor sharpened stone
Sinking sands
Vast emptiness
Thickened jungle vines
Pestilence and disease
Torn skin, torn hair
Carried scars evermore
No domicile for comfort
Scarcity of food
Parched from thirst
Watching eyes
Tracking every move
Some with teeth and claws
Others carry steel
Riding battering waves
Atop the horses
Iron and living
Keeping perpetual watch
Seeking out the new
Held back by nothing
To colonize virgin lands
Geological discovery
Myths and legends
Fighting natural enemies
And the prize was…
Cartography