To D’ni

Their footsteps long erased,
Lost to the dust of time
Only their empty buildings
And abandoned fountains remain.

The light is dim,
But it makes the courtyard
All the more surreal,
Casting an ethereal glow.

An abandoned imager,
Like the one through which Atrus spoke
Lies unmoving in one dark corner;
Its parts have been scavenged for other things.

On the balcony we see the lake,
A waterfall, a dim outline of the city proper,
The rock ceiling pressing down from above,
But we cannot see K’veer.

A water garden is there,
Its plants illuminate and move
At the press of a button;
For what purpose we cannot guess.

Returned again to the point of origin,
Bevin’s empty, cracked courtyard
We note the cordoned-off mezzanine
And meet with old friends.