Many of the lines in this poem are actually song titles or variations on song titles and lyrics, many of which I was listening to while composing. For the analysts among you, I provide the following list of sources. I wanted to see how many “mystical-sounding” things I could string together and still have it come out nicely. If you think this will disillusion you regarding my creative processes, turn back now.

• over the sky: Title of a soundtrack album from the anime Escaflowne.
• beyond it all: Title of an album of computer-generated music by Jason Tracer.
• lost highway: Title of a truly insane David Lynch film.
• points of no return: Modified title of the 1993 Warner Bros. film Point of No Return, an almost line-for-line and scene-for-scene reproduction of the Luc Besson film, La Femme Nikita.
• deeper land: A segment from the title of a song by Ray Lynch: “Drifter in a Deeper Land” from his album No Blue Thing.
• watermark: An Enya song from the album of the same name.
• undiscovered country: The subtitle of Star Trek VI.
• tears on the pages of history: Paraphrased lyrics from the Ace of Base song “Perfect World.”
• the sky of my mind: Modified title of another Ray Lynch album, The Sky of Mind.
• here and never found Another song from No Blue Thing.
• driving through midnight: Drive: a Jan Hammer album, and “Midnight”: a Jan Hammer song from Beyond the Mind’s Eye.
• well-traveled by secrets: Modified lyric from a song on the Lost Highway soundtrack by David Bowie called “I’m Deranged.”
• drifting: Altered fragment of the Ray Lynch song title above, “Drifter in a Deeper Land.”
• deranged enough: Inspired by the title of the David Bowie song “I’m Deranged.”
• homeward at last: Another song from No Blue Thing.
• seekers and nomads and outcasts: The Seeker, The Nomad and The Outcast are novels set in the Dark Sun AD&D world by Simon Hawke.
• members and settlers and hiders: The opposites of the above terms in reverse order to provide some juxtaposition. (Wow, I never thought I’d actually get to use that word somewhere!)
• the forest i once called home: Modified title from a song by Dead Can Dance called “Tell Me About (The Forest You Once Called Home).”
• moebius: I was listening to an Orbital song called “The Moebius” and it seemed a good metaphor.