Why MIRADOR?

"Mirador" means "watchtower" in French.

As I was walking in the African untainted landscape at Park W, I found myself among a diversity of people... Soon I saw a sign by the river called "Mirador" (see picture below); this pointed us to the handmade watchtower where we sat down and waited for the elephants coming to drink water during this very hot day. WHEN I first saw this sign, the name jumped out at me and became alive... MIRA reminded me of Mirabai, the Indian mystical poet and DOR , which means "longing" in Romanian. My dear friend Alice had been asking me lately why I did not have a local name like everyone else, and why I had not asked for one... so when I saw this name, I took to it instantly and told her this was my local name from then on: MIRADOR.

And SO it has been and IS...

I AM...

By Cezarina Trone

I am the great motion of life, the watcher...

the FORMLESSS ONE in this body making its way

through the endless crowds of other forms.

This cauldron of heat and turbulence

was simply created by the mind games

we've played... this hide-and-seek dramatic play

lost its sheen for me... I am STILL,

yet moving at incredible speed. I am

the scream of the emerald caged birds

in the market scene

on a quiet Saturday morning;

You can see me in the smile of the naked children

seeking expression of freedom

while leaping twice in the air

before getting ready to jump in

the wide mouth of the Niger river... I am the tree holding

an entire universe of bogo-bogo birds

in its arms after sunset

I am you... you are I

in this earthly mirror

hanging on the vast ceiling

of the ocean sky.

(March 9th, 2008)