for the darkness that it brings,
or sail away eastward
tacking on the nameless wind
to outrun the setting sun
and sink beyond the horizon,
past the passing mountain ranges
to the open ocean beyond.
For no matter how wide the sail
or how well-rigged the boat
or, like a fine knife through flesh,
the hull parts the waves two-fold,
the night catches on
faster than the wind can blow—
distant mountains disappear in the darkness.
The voice of the sea becomes your own
in this darkness where
there is none but you and the wind,
whispering its dark will into your ear
with visions and sounds to remind
that you are alone,
that when the winds whip harshly
and when the boat is upturned,
that your screams out on the open sea
will turn to mist and dissipate
into the blowing wind and rising waves
until the farthest boatman hears no scream
but fears the faint whispers in his ear.
Though, in the dark, the waves shine
silver-white under the moonlit night
and with their motion you look up to see
the stars dotting the endless darkened sky.
As if a guide and by design of the teachings
when you sailed at night
accompanied by someone wise
who knows of ways to read the sky, 
you remember that the stars have names
and like the sun, they rise up East
and slowly sail towards the West
to slumber there, beneath the sea.
Now, there from the East begins to rise
the Seven Birds which in their flight
ride on up the nameless wind
until they reach the other side.
By then, you remember
that the Seven Birds do not fly every night
for when the will of the wind blows otherwise
there is no western route that the Birds can fly.
As the Seven Birds have a name
so too does the only wind that carries them,
and thus, the nameless wind was then named
by the ancients who have passed: Amihan.
And by facing Amihan that blows
a cold wind passing by both of your ears,
you hear no whispers of dark wishes,
instead it is the sail that you hear,
catching the wind and gliding
like a great wide wing of cloth,
facing Amihan as you are and whispering
that you are facing North
for Amihanan lies before your eyes
behind your blindness in the night
for that is where the wind blows from
and where the stars lie still in the sky.
Thus, by sailing East, you know West,
and by listening you find North,
and as the stars see to your safety
that you do not yield to your fears,
the dark whispers fade into the wind,
replaced by the voice of your sail
which speaks where you are and where you face,
and you find that the night is silent
and in the darkness the stars shine,
when you see no evil in the shadows
and do not cast your fear into the night,
and by braving the night, you learn the way
whether it be back or forward,
towards the sun or into the night,
in flight of fear or to face it,
over the sea and under the sky.