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The Blinding 
by David Cale   Sept. 11, 2001


New York
seat of wealth and  power
Washington
seat of might and rule

Like Lear you sat not knowing
that the blasted heath
and the vicious blinding
would fly unbidden

Twin towers of the west
illusions of a kingdom now fallen
leaving as the new center of our lives
an empty wilderness of the soul

And from under the desolation
we can just hear the king's wail
a millennium old
yet still echoing in storms such as these

"Let the great gods... Find their enemies now. Tremble,  wretch,
That has within thee undivulged crimes, Unwhipped of justice.
I am more sinned against than sinning."

Here the kings and servants of commerce were slain
Those  who worshiped and trusted in
the gods of wealth and power
and felt invulnerable in their fortress
The other gods look down
some cry - some laugh

The CNN anchor intones

"Poor naked wretches, where ever you are,
in this pitiless storm,
How shall our houseless heads..., defend you
From seasons such as these?

O, we have taken too little care of this!"

Behind him
faces of those who 'spent' their lives
delivering their hate spawned by fanatic belief
brief meaning found in the free trading of
eyes for eyes
blind faith for blind faith

And so we sit in our walled up countries
the barbarian at the gate
fear in our gut feeding the hate in our hearts
transfixed by the image
terrified that our world we thought we knew
has collapsed in ruin
leaving only rubble beneath our feet

We wonder if the poison pen
has touched our unopened mail

And  we howl as Lear over his daughter's body
dead from his blind folly
"Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life....
And these no breath at all?
They will come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!"

Quotes are from William Shakespeare's play "King Lear"

David Cale
Images Of The Journey Photography
905 457 7306
Brampton Ontario Canada
 

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