the smell of smoke and candles flood my senses as the reverberation of footsteps echo through this hall. this is the first place that all of these millions are receiving the silence and respect that they deserve. the only thing more appalling than the reality of this historical nightmare is the blatant disrespect that so many have displayed today when they should have been shocked and numbed into silence. the last few hours have been beyond words or descriptions, and the realization that these names raised on the walls will be concrete, physical manifestations, places on a map and marked in my memory is almost bringing me to my knees. these light, straight, unbending walls that surround me, enclosing me, give the illusion of an almost complete circle, past, reality, and future reaching fruition, a beginning and an end all in the same moment. but not quite. this octagonal memorial is simply an illusion, a representation, a wish of connecting the dots in an idealistic world. that maybe one day these events will truly be in the past, just pictures on the wall, words in a textbook, boxes in an archive. for now, however, they and what they stand for are much more important that that. maybe it will always be that way, but the inevitability of a comparable disaster lurks around every corner, in every dark alley of the world. the same mindless, commercially-driven, mass-produced mentality that degrades this museum into a hopeless tourist trap full of desperation to move on to the next exhibit, turning on an ipod in a memorial, complaining about the stench of thousands of shoes from people just like them, just a lot less fortunate. this kind of mindless, self indulgent puppet going through all these motions is what really makes this so terrifying. if they can't be lulled into humility in the face of this horror, what other atrocities will they allow or endure in their own lifetimes? what nightmares will their apathy breed? there will alwayts be monsters and demons lurking in our present reality, and there is no real way to distinguish between any other individual fighting their own personal 'dark passengers.' who will unleash these on others?
what is the difference between popular opinion and propaganda? only retroactive acknowledgment.
what feeds minds today may be discredited or interpreted differently a week, a month, a year from now. what are we willfully ignorant of? what is reality, and what is facade? who among us is capable of such things? there is no denying that such people exist, and these events are mirrored a dozen times over all around the world. the bravery of a few, the cowardice of many, the terror it should bring to all. . .it leaves my hands trembling, this pen's strokes barely capable of connecting to one another.
1 comment:
Love this. So much.
Post a Comment