|
' The Tower Of Babel '
by Thaddeus Hutyra
I feel myself a starman and a magician, walking on a fine harp
threading through a silky scarf woven by the starry rays
ready to fight for this world, for the sunshine of newborn liberties
the ones spreading from the Eye of God to every corner of the world
and back to the God's Eye, belonging to the final commander in chief
It is a feeling as if endlessly playing on a celestial fortepiano
while the beauteous ballads of Chopin go on and on, for a sweet eternity
Ecclesiastical bells are calling to come to the Holy Mass
and can be heard at four points of the World, our beloved Earth
Lost in my thoughts I join the perpetual struggle for freedoms
and then as if in the Big Bang spreading outward and also inward
to the core of my soul I see … Face of God. I swear I see face of God !
My adventure is begun, with all the bells of the world
ringing with the power borrowed from Almighty God, my Lord
1.
I am standing before a breathtaking, gloriously shaped skyscraper
which is reaching to the very Heavens, piercing them
It is of fully glassed form, playing with the radiance of the sunlight
perhaps formed of all the rays of the whole Universe
What a beautiful view! What a splendid jewel, my Lord !
There is a sign on the door that says: ‘ Tower of Babel ‘
Oh, no, is it really the fabulous Tower of Babel, so incandescent ?
The one which is the soul-soaring Gate to God’s palaces ?
Yes, this is the noble Tower of Babel, no doubt of it !
The tower of so many languages, over six thousand of them !
What a beautiful building ! Looking like a tribute to the Noah's Ark !
Above the landscapes of human beings! As if everlasting Tree of Life!
Oh, you, the Tower, a wonder of a thousand and one nights !
Scintillating one, sparking with symphonies of Heavenly rays
I do not have to have a key, a magnetic card or a remote control
in order to get inside you, oh glamorous Tower, the Tower of Babel !
Oh, Lord, my Lord, God Almighty ! It is indeed the Tower of Babel !!
I come inside and see thousands of people sitting around the tables
This is just a ground floor, what a thrilling, awe-inspiring view !
I ask myself what can be on all the other floors, the endless ones …
Strange enough, I see only Belgians and Dutch people on the ground floor
Somehow I know it is the Day of the Dutch here, well there is a sign saying that
I also know there are people from all over the world
on all the other floors, sure of it ! For it is the Tower of Babel !
- ‘ Let's concentrate on this floor ' - I whisper to myself
I take a closer look and can't believe my own eyes.
They are so many famous people in, from the past, present and future
as if the vehicle of time ceased to exist ! Me out of it !
I walk to the first table and once again can't believe my own eyes
There is the immortal Andreas Vesalius
the author of the magnum opus ‘ On the construction of the human body ‘
Next to him sitting as great a man, Nicolaus Copernicus himself
with his own magnum opus ‘ On the rotation of the celestial spheres ‘
Beside him two great painters, Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dijk
who visibly are close friends adoring the genius of each other
Also Desiderius Erasmus, Dirk Martens, Christopher Plantin
Gerardus Mercator and many other geniuses of the past
‘ Dutch is the best language in the world. I don't understand why the French and Spaniards
don't let us to speak Dutch "- I hear Dirk Martens complaining
‘ Yes, yes ‘ - Paul Rubens answers him - ‘ I don't care whether they like it or not
I just speak our beloved language, my friends, no matter what !
The language of the heavenly stars ! ‘
- ‘ And you, who are you? Where do you come from? - Anthony van Dijk directs his question to me
He makes a sketch at the same time. A sketch worth perhaps millions at any time
I feel embarrassed because I see all those eyes, the eyes of geniuses looking at me!
‘ I was born in Poland, your country dear Copernicus, and the country of Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Marie Curie-Sklodowska, Krzysztof Penderecki, the one
who composed ' The Seven Gates of Jerusalem ' amongst others
from the country of Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Slowacki, Cyprian Kamil Norwid
Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski,Tadeusz Kantor and his avant-garde theater, to name but few
I know the time here in this Tower of Babel doesn't count so I don't say when I have departed Poland
But let make it sure, I came away from the so called communist tyranny
however strange it might sound to some of you
to ... America, my beloved land, one I have never reached so far. Oh, yeah ! Fate, of course!
I left in search of freedom, I, a teenager full of dreams, a little bit Hamlet, and a bit Don Quixote ...
‘ And ... have you found your freedom ?’ - Erasmus asked me while enormous tension hanged in the air
‘ Have I found my freedom ? …’ - I repeated soundlessly his question
lost deeply in my thoughts at the same time
‘ Come here, young man, sit down here with us ! Do you like Dutch ?
- I heard suddenly Peter Paul Rubens, just the moment when I wanted to answer the question of Erasmus
He knew that not every question could be answered or that some answers were simply painful
‘ It is a beautiful language, though more complicated than English ‘ - I answered
‘ And also more complicated than ... Polish ? ‘ - there was a next question
‘ Difficult to say. I heard from many people Polish is the most complex language, second after the Chinese
Yet it's my mother language, a rose and a virgin, quite holly in my mind !
It is true to say that all languages are varying: in vocabulary, syntax and sound, isn't it ? ‘
‘ And ... what about our language ? Do you find it difficult ? ‘ - Curiosity of Paul Rubens was endless as always
‘ Yes and no. I discovered there are some words in Dutch which have many meanings
but in Chinese the meanings for every single word are even more spectacular
Your language is naturally so simple for you but complicated for foreigners
I have sometimes trouble with finding the right words and that's like the case with the right clothes
which one sometimes finds easily and sometimes can’t decide for hours
or like with glasses on one’s nose that one finds finally on his nose but after much time lost for the search
Oh, divine decadence, you never know what’s next ! ‘
Then I am invited to some other tables. Famous people at all of them
Paul Jansen, René Magritte, Gerard Reve, William Elsschot, Dirk Frimout
and Pieter Breughel, the one who painted ' The Fall of Icarus '
Vitalski, DJs Tiësto and Armin van Buuren, Kris and Koen van Clouseau,Tom Boonen
Helmut Lotti, Father Damian, Hugo Claes, many others for long pages to mention
and from all the times, the historical ones as well as present ones
‘ So ... you emigrated from Poland directly to Belgium ? ‘ - Asks me Father Damian
‘ No. I tried first to immigrate to the United States. To my promised land, beloved one !
But I wasn't successful in this regard and so I emigrated to ... New Zealand
the land of Katharine Mansfield, Edmund Hillary, of the great soprano Kiri Te Kanawa ...
The land also of spectacular Coromandel Peninsula, Milford Sounds Waterfalls, Windy Wellington ...
The land which is called Aotearoa in Maori language, what means: ' The land of the long white cloud '
The pristine country never to be forgotten, fabulous, a harp for the angels
‘ But they are speaking English there, aren't they ? ‘ - asked me one of them.
"Of course ! Fluently! Brightly ! It's though their mother language !
Their curiosity got multiplied. ‘ Where have you gone from New Zealand to ? Direct to Belgium ? ‘
- asked one of them. My answer was simple:
- ‘ I was an adventurer for some time, I stayed in the United Kingdom, afterwards in China
Then I came to Belgium and live ever since in ‘
- ‘ Are you determined to stay in Belgium or … still dreaming to go to … America ? ‘
I was silent for a moment, a tear appeared in my eye.
- ‘ That’s true ‘ - I answered - ‘ I dreamt of going to America
but … I have found it good in Belgium, good in the European Union
so … I am going to live in Belgium, my bride turned wife, till the death shall separate us ‘
Everybody bursted with laugh at my comparison of Belgium to a bride and wife
I then wondered among the tables quite a long time
everywhere graciously welcomed, always asked questions
driven by curiosity, being offered friendship and heart felt emotions
At a certain moment I decided to check on other floors and I directed myself
towards the elevators of the incredible, effervescent Tower of Babel
The bells of the world played their music in my ears
the music of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holly Ghost
‘cause what I have experienced was larger than life, a gift from the Lord
2.
Once in the elevator I saw thousands of buttons one could see through
labyrinthine buttons of the Universe, shining with brilliance
as if they were of diamonds, the most precious stones
I pressed one of the buttons, a staggering number 10024
disbelieving there could be a floor with this number
although I have seen here the numbers in their hundred of thousands
It didn’t last that long to get to the chosen floor, perhaps a split of seconds
and then the door got open at the speed of light, unnoticeably
I stepped out of the elevator and … found myself in a large gathering room
with the all-American banners, the stars and stripes !
Was I dreaming or was it the fact ?! - I stood a moment bewilderingly surprised
But then I began simply to walk among the many tables
and to my new surprising discovery and outright astonishment
I saw the Founding Fathers of the United States
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington and Samuel Adams
I saw there John Locke, Thomas Paine, Edgar Allan Poe, many other finest guests
including presently known men and women of superdom, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Sharon Stone, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Depp and Jude Law
Clint Eastwood, Leonardo di Caprio, Julie Roberts en Martin Scorsese
Michael Rubens Bloomberg, the former mayor of NYC
strangely there were even Marlon Brando and Jack Nicolson among the guests
and even the president of the United States, Barack Obama
next to former presidents of the USA, Bill Clinton, George Bush and George W. Bush
so many other known and unknown faces, all fully blown Americans
Barack Obama just stood up and went to the podium
and began his presidential speech, one long in political phrases
demanding concern with what was happening in the Middle East
and as much in the eastern parts of Ukraine, with Putting tearing the country apart
In both cases there was a need for fast decisions, according to him
The ISIS Caliphate must be destroyed, ‘cause they are brutal terrorists
and what concerns Russia and Ukraine the war must be stopped
Will the sanctions not bring desired results and Putin will continue
with his military support for the rebels in the east of Ukraine
the USA will have no other choice as to supply defensive weapons
to the legitimate government of Ukraine, chosen in the elections
Putin must stop ruining the international order in Europe
Obama went further on in his farsighted speech
‘ We shall stand on the side of liberty, no matter what ‘ -
the US president concluded. - ‘ ‘ God bless America ‘ - He added
I imagined something else in a split - second glance, Russia and Ukraine
joining the Transatlantic Pact of the free trade to make the picture whole
and to definitely end all conflicts with Russia: USA-EU-Ukraine-Russia
all the way from San Francisco and Vancouver to Vladivostok in the Far East
of the Russian Federation. But it was for more people to decide and not only for me
There was a long ovation, people standing up from their chairs
some of them shouting: ‘ Long live America ! Long live liberty !
And then all these was commenced by singing the American anthem
There were plenty of wonderful parties afterwards among the participants
friendly people asking me to join them, curious of me and my life
but as always in everything I had to say good bye and depart
promising to visit America, my beloved land, one day
When I was walking to the elevator I heard the bells again in my head
the bells ringing and singing all the liberties America fought for
and the world was desiring so much
Oh, long live America ! Long live freedoms and liberty !
I got into the elevator and pushed on yet another button, and then another button, and another one …
And so my story of grandiose stories continued by visiting great people
from all the corners of the world, just dependable on which button I did press
I have been doing this, pressing the buttons in the elevators for the rest of the day
then at night hours till the very midnight, then the rest of the night
and then, tirelessly, I continued the same throughout the next day splashed by the rays of the Sun
but finally I had enough of emotions which certainly would stay with me for the rest of my life
I decided to leave the Tower of Babel, also leave the vehicle of time and I was back in the real world
Well, welcome back in the world of hardship, world of desires and ambitions
and of life full of concerns, never ending anxieties, life worth though to live in
One thing is sure about the two worlds I passed through
my real one I am always in and the one in the Tower of Babel, somehow also a real one
both worlds are a yearning for freedoms, love, brotherhood, liberty, no matter what !
Both worlds are in fact one world, just both sides of the coin, for all times to come
May the bells of the world ring the Earthly and the cosmic sounds in our lives
and defend us from bad things, my Lord !
Ring, ring, ring roaring bells of Earth, resounding bells of life, echoing bells of love
ring my dear bells, our sweet hearts, dearest to us rumbling hearts, forever !
So help us God, our Almighty Lord
‘ The Tower Of Babel ‘ by Thaddeus Hutyra
© Thaddeus Hutyra 13/02/2015
All Rights Reserved
e-mail: [email protected]
More here: http://www.funworldstar.com/GezichtvanGod/index.html
|