South of the Sahara
Miguel Bosé

South of the Sahara, aching heart
is that where you'd guess all astronomy starts?
we could have more knowledge than we dream
in heaven and earth, nothing's less than it seems
this could be the circle of the stones
the turn of the card or the rolling of bones
this could be the lay line on the land
the past and the future that cross in our hands
this could close the circle double star that hides itself
white dwarf behind the sun … oh, Sirius
the things we can't explain … remain … mysterious.
South of the Sahara, Timbuktu
the back of beyond and the shock of the new
this could be the strangest thing of all
the body of science with its back to the wall,
South of the Sahara distant men of logic try to trace
the shape of the Bortex, the pattern of space
the same as that of atoms in the mind
wherever we look it's ourselves that we find
the sand of the Sahara double star that hides itself
white dwarf behind the sun … oh, Sirius
the things we can't explain … remain … mysterious.
The people of the Dogon always knew
the extraterrestrials' heavenly view
stars that dog our passage holy suns
over the centuries, these have become
the legend of the Dogon ... how do you explain it?
how do you begin to explain it all?
We could be the lay line on the land
invisible shifts in the hourglass's sand
we could have more knowledge than we dream
in heaven and earth nothing's all that it seems
we could be eternal … etc.