In the heart of each forest, there is a tear drop, a place where sun does not touch, a place where no human foot has stepped, in the music of the leaves, in the small habitations, under the vast sky of blue.

It reminds me of the violence hidden deep in the soil, coiled like a serpent, a promise of rebirth, digging into roots, in the shallows of the river, as the moonlight spills like silver across the water.

• Nadine Gordimer