In The Pre-Dusk Woods

 

In the final analysis the peculiar event

may come down simply to suggestibility

as in how susceptible you may be to unseen

but suspected creatures stalking you for

purposes known not only to its own natural

predation heritage but narratives dispensed by

others of personal worrying confrontations 

as well as news that such attacks have had

devastating consequences for those whose

devoted canine companions have sensed

danger and sprung to their humans' defense

sacrificing themselves to the jaws and claws

of creatures of the wild acting on compulsion

of their own survival. You are nervous and

wary, walking through the icy winter forest

trails impressed on the deep snow leading off

pathways into the denseness of the interior

where evening dusk is yet to creep its presence.

With you are two small dependent leashed

dogs who suddenly begin a hysterical chorus

of barks at the approach of a large and well

behaved dog and a woman with whom you

exchange cordial greetings and advise her

of the daytime presence of coyotes in the

wooded ravine you are both traversing. The

dogs leap and frolic and are suddenly stiff

while a movement off the side, furtive, quiet

captures your eye as you think you see a 

tall, lean, grey creature sidling behind a

copse of trees, startled by the fuss; another

on the opposite side, as you incredulously

convince yourself that what you see is what

is occurring then and there. And suddenly not.

 

 

Heritage, Tradition, Culture

 

There is much reason to look back in time

with awe at the peak of civilizational, artistic

philosophical, scientific and inventive genius

of a multitudinous people of the ancient past

when the Middle Kingdom presided over

the East as an example of what the human

mind could aspire toward and the aesthetic

appeal of perfection in art when exquisite

scrolls brushed philosophical formulae for a

millennium of outstanding achievements in all

fields of human endeavour. Today we look back

with veneration at the fine creative intelligence

the invaluable lessons, the artifacts of grace and

beauty, and marvel. Archeology had dusted

away the accumulated detritus of time to

reveal peerless porcelains and jades, strategic

military formulae, terracotta armies, a great

wall able to withstand siege, administrative

genius based on merit alone and infinitely

more, revealing that ancient place of history

so at odds with its current iteration where

tradition and heritage are scorned in favour

of a brave new world of government monopoly

with an irresistible drive to mercantile power

and political conquest bypassing the values

of yore exemplified by thriving open markets

to feed the limitless population in varied

metropolises catering to China's vast appetite

to consume all that nature has given life to.

 

 

Look to Yourself

 

We are so besotted with ourselves

wallowing in the certainty that we

are unique, none others that live

or have ever lived, or will live

can possibly be as we are. Our

every experience, emotion and

reaction is ours and ours alone. It

is as though our creatrix took endless

time, and thought and effort to pursue

a blueprint ours alone that no other

could conceivably possess. Our

shallow conceit speaks to our love

of self in a way that is never

extended outward to encompass

humanity at large which surely

has its own argument, each and

every one of their own enriched

passions and perceptions that none

others can emulate for it is beyond

their abilities. All of which enable us

to look with covert disdain on all

others though a genius once took

pains to message us all through words

and sentiments of immortal value.

I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?  

Hath not a Jew hands, organs, 

dimensions, senses, affections, 

passions; fed with the same food,

hurt with the same weapons, 

subject to the same diseases, 

healed by the same means, warmed

and cooled by the same winter and 

summer as a Christian is? If you 

prick us do we not bleed? 

If you tickle us do we not laugh? 

If you poison us do we not die?

And if you wrong us shall we not

revenge? If we are like you in 

the rest, we will resemble you 

in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian,

what is his humility? Revenge.

If a Christian wrong a Jew, what 

should his sufferance be by Christian 

example? Why, revenge. The

villainy you teach me I will execute,

and it shall go hard but I 

will better the instruction.

 

 

Oppression, Persecution, Revolt

 

Tyrannical rulers invent the rules of their

realm starting with their reliance that those

whose lives they dictate meekly defer to

those with state power knowing full well

the default of inevitable arrest, imprisonment

torture and death declaring them enemies of

the state. Should an almighty deity be invoked

as proof the tyrants are vested with godly

authority, all the greater obeisance and

obedience follows. But even the oppressed

and the downtrodden will recognize limits

to their despairing conditions when resignation

impulsively transforms into viral outrage, their

humiliation and powerlessness sparks into

flaming dissent and a mass revolt erupts

when one and then another domestic atrocity

too many leaves them reeling in disbelief

at the excess of inhumanity they are subjected

to with casual ease. Then, the tide turns when

the tyrants understand the power of numbers

reflecting an unstoppable tide of rejection

and a universal call for the regime's downfall.

Initial brutality, the swift response to quell the

riots fail, leaving the rulers to quail in dismay

offer profound apologies, promise reform in

deference to the peoples' wishes but nothing 

can now defuse the volcanic eruption of human

grief and rage prepared to destroy those whose

preoccupation has too long been the ultimate

challenge of vanquishing the human spirit.

 

 

A Light Unto The Nations

 

In the annals of human lore there are

unique and rare stories whose ancient

origins are located in the mists of time

and this is one of them. This is a story

of humankind whose iteration is endless

one for which there is surely a genesis but

just as surely no limit. It endures in all its

manifestations with no sign of flagging

as it makes its way into the future. It is

not a fable, not a myth, not a folk story

but a repeatable occurrence that no

measurable calamity is capable of stemming

for the cause and the reaction stirs itself to

life without end. It is not exactly a story

of unrequited love, nor is it a story of

human compassion overcoming adversity.

This story is, by any measure, one of

ghastly horrors, of a mass rejection of

the presence of a people upon whom is

visited, era following era, catastrophic

enmity and annihilation. It is a people

among whom the seed of genius has been

generously endowed yet whose purported

character is unfailingly held in contempt.

It is a people for whom hope and a future

is denied but they themselves cling fast.

 

Beware The Urban Forest

 

They are sagacious creatures, bold and

masters of strategy as befits those of

the animal kingdom's predators. Much

after all, depends on their practised

hunting habits, for in their ancestral

habitat they maintain a balance in the

presence of creatures they stalk. They

are also particularly adaptable, since

their once-wild geography was invaded

and with little interest in seeking refuge

from interlopers they have become

extremely skilled at slinking about 

the background making full use of the

same green spaces so valued by other

animal species including man. Human

habitation in close proximity to those

natural places where they can den and

procreate is of little account for they

are also adept at scavenging albeit not

preferentially. Their appearance is

similar to that of the dogs that people

walk in natural settings, oblivious to

the presence of untamed canids though

the dogs detect their presence alerting

themselves that long-distance cousins

are about, seldom imagining themselves

prey. Silently lurk the coyotes, awaiting

opportunities; one offering the prospect

of play-time friendly dogs are eager to

indulge in, unaware that others unseen

follow behind fully prepared for group action.

 

 

National Dilemmas

 

  Photograph: Sombo Sombo/Alamy

In poverty-stricken countries of the world

 
which we may no longer refer to as Third World 

 
countries but rather make full use of the 

 
euphemism 'emerging economies', there is one

 
inexhaustible natural resource the envy of

 
First World economic nations; the growth

 
steady and reliable, of their populations where 

 
the natural increase grows and grows despite

 
privation, food scarcity, joblessness and lack 

 
of medical care and the unfortunate loss of life 

 
accompanying those lacks. In those countries 

 
governed either by incompetents or a hierarchy 

 
of privileged elites for whom nothing of concrete

 
value lacks, the great unwashed for whom 

 
sanitation, potable water, basic foodstuffs, power

 
and health care remain beyond imagination it's 

 
live or perish as fortune rolls her die, and  hope 

 
is lost. Yet wealthy nations grapple with their

 
confounding statistics that emphasize population

 
replacement expectations remain mysteriously 

 
misplaced for as the aged die, fewer are born to 

 
replace them. This, even as administrations enact

 
legislation and expend treasury to enhance

 
the prospect of child-bearing, offering measures

 
inconceivable to those others, even while

 
residents of wealthy nations sneer at their

 
subsidies, the child care provisions, the health

 
care, the paid parental leave, as insufficient

 
in depth and quantity as a persuasive gambit.