:31:42
Did I write you that there are emus in the Ile de France?
:31:44
This nameIsland of France
sounds strangely on the island of Sal.
:31:49
My memory superimposes two towers:
:31:52
the one at the ruined castle of Montpilloy
that served as an encampment for Joan of Arc,
:31:56
and the lighthouse tower at the southern tip of Sal,
probably one of the last lighthouses to use oil.
:32:26
A lighthouse in the Sahel looks like a collage
until you see the ocean at the edge of the sand and salt.
:32:32
Crews of transcontinental planes are rotated on Sal.
:32:36
Their club brings to this frontier of nothingness a small touch
of the seaside resort which makes the rest still more unreal.
:32:41
They feed the stray dogs that live on the beach.
:32:59
I found my dogs pretty nervous tonight;
they were playing with the sea as I had never seen them before.