Dear Denny,

This contribution from a member of the old Triumvirate might serve your purposes nicely...

wr ()()

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THE FIREFALLS OF GAL’GATHONG
Written and translated by D_deridex

I was too young, really,
to understand what I was seeing:
an endless cycle of fire,
magma erupting from some deep pocket
and flowing into a sea trench,
only to be subducted into the crust
and melted into magma again.
Ever since our people had migrated
from Vulcan to this world,
the caldera had never ceased
to burn daylight or light darkness.
My father murmured as one praying:
he who had lived and worked his whole life
as if seeing alone is believing.
My left hand tightened in his right;
metaphysics terrified me more than lava,
and stupid questions more than both.
His gray head turned toward mine at last,
and his raptor’s eyes gleamed just a little:
“What is unseen or gone missing
is sometimes made known
by the footprints it leaves behind.”

Originally posted Monday, December 13, 2004
Second draft posted Friday, June 26, 2009

Links on STARTREK.com:

Romulus

The Firefalls of Gal’gathong