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' The Tower Of Babel, episode '
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
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 indeed 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 noble 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, my glamorous tower, the Tower of Babel
Oh, Lord, my Lord, God Almighty ! It is indeed the Tower of Babel !!
1.
I came inside and saw thousands of people sitting around the tables
It was just a ground floor, which in itself was already beaming with a thrill
I asked myself what could be on all the other floors, certainly endless ones …
Strange enough, I saw only Belgians and Dutch people on the ground floor
Somehow I knew it was the Day of the Dutch here, well there was a sign saying that
I also knew there were people from all over the world
on all the other floors, sure of it. For it is the grandiose Tower of Babel !
- ‘ Let's concentrate on this floor ' - I whispered to myself
I took a closer look and could not believe my own eyes.
They were so many famous people in, from the past, present and future
as if the timeless vehicle of time ceased to exist, me out of it
I walked to the first table and once again I could not believe my own eyes
There was sitting dignified, immortal Andreas Vesalius
the author of the magnum opus ‘ On the construction of the human body ‘
Next to him was 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 were 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 heard Dirk Martens complaining
- ‘ Yes, yes ‘ - Paul Rubens answered 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 directed his question to me
He made a sketch at the same time. A sketch worth perhaps millions at any time
I felt embarrassed because I saw 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
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 another question
- ‘ Difficult to say. I heard from many people Polish is the most complex language
second after the Chinese, one that is a complete labirynth
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 seemed to be endless
- ‘ 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 not complicated for you, it's your language
but for foreigners it is often quite complicated
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 which ones to wear
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 was 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 times, the historical ones as well as the present ones
- ‘ So ... you emigrated from Poland directly to Belgium ? ‘ Asked me Father Damian
- ‘ No. I tried first to emigrate to the United States. To my promised land, beloved one !
I wasn't, however, 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 ? ‘ - enquired 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 ?
Directly to our Belgium, filled with chocolates, soaked with beer ? ‘
- there was a new question. My answer was simple:
- ‘ I was the adventurer for some time, I stayed in the United Kingdom
and afterwards in China, traveling to Tibet and other regions
Then I came to Belgium and I lived here ever since ‘
- ‘ Are you determined to stay in Belgium or still dreaming
to go to … America, the country of your dreams ? ‘
I was silent for a moment, a tear appeared in my eye.
- ‘ That’s true ‘ - I answered - ‘ I dreamt of going to America, the country I chose for myself
but … I have found it now 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 wondered then among the tables quite a long time
everywhere graciously welcomed, always asked questions driven by curiosity
being offered friendships 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 a brilliance
as if they were made 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 completely 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 Nicholson 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
A good luck wanted I met two great geniuses from the time of American struggle for independence
both James Madison and Thomas Paine talked to each other
holding their great historical works in their hands
that changed the entire course of the modern civilizations, beginning with the USA
James Madison had original manuscripts of the United States Bill of Rights, much of his authorship
and Thomas Paine his book ' Rights of Man ', originally written in support of the French Revolution
They just gave welcoming hands to me, asked where I am from
and after hearing I am from Poland they were delighted
to mention the Constitution of the 3 May, 1791 in Poland
the second modern times constitution after the one cementing the USA in 1789
We had a short chat, friendly and brotherly, they asked me
of I shall ever visit the United States, naturally their beloved nation
and I answered it's my dream and sooner or later I shall come to the land of my dreams
to NYC especially but also to Chicago, San Francisco, many other places
and the culmination will be the toast to freedom in the Statue of Liberty
Then we bade farewell to each other 'cause their schedule was busy
and everybody went his own way
I was clearly happy to have met such larger than life personages
but it took a few minutes before I realised I had in my hand
one of the Federalist Papers, obviously gifted to me by James Madison
In the meantime Barack Obama stood up and went to the podium
He then 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 Puttin 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, to leave also 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 to 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, the Lord of all Universes, our Almighty God
‘ The Tower Of Babel, episode ‘ by Thaddeus Hutyra
© Thaddeus Hutyra 13/02/2015
All Rights Reserved
e-mail: [email protected]
More here: http://www.funworldstar.com/GezichtvanGod/index.html
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