Vigilance

These are quiver trees, so-called because African San make quivers for their arrows from the branches. They aren’t really trees, rather more like overgrown aloe plants. This one may be only 200-300 years old, but its lineage has been watching Namibian sunsets for millions of years. And tonight, it is watching again. 

With the sun dipping below the horizon, the air cools, carrying the faint scent of dust and resin. The silence feels deliberate, imposed. Time frays, and the clouds seem to gather themselves for one last show of force. The land, the rocks, this tree glow softly, neither day nor night, as the deepening twilight layers blues on the sun’s last flourish.