Aware that its flow was constant, and that I, and everything in my world, was floating upon it, and drifting apart at varying speeds according to some rule I couldn't identify, I built a dam against it. And make no mistake, I built a very fine dam. And it seemed to stem the flow. The current that had bothered me so much did indeed settle, then stop. I found a mattress upon which to float, and the things in my world seemed to stay close at hand. Though I was no longer moving forward, I was now moving upward. Up was fine, however, restful even, and it was preserving my world. Up was better than forward, as my world stayed close and accessible, within my orbit.But in the next moment, or perhaps after many, many moments, I simply couldn't tell (forgive me; I don't even know what a moment is), there was a surge and a tsunami-like flow over the top of my dam. I looked back and saw that dam vanish into the distance, and all the things and people I had gathered close and built the dam against losing had been separated far from me, worse than before I had built my dam, when I was merely in some natural flow, assuming there is such a thing. And what was more upsetting, the flow now seemed more rapid, removing the things of my world farther from me and at a greater pace.
This, and that there is an end, is all I know.
Riddles:
Who is the thief that is constantly stolen?
What flows and flies and is measured by sands and hands?
What can't be stopped, but stops for about 150,000 people a day?
What both divides and multiplies our days?
What can move very slowly, very quickly, and occasionally stand still, but never changes speed?
2 comments:
I was looking for this and found it on a site called "The BOMA Project"
There is a great moment in the movie Out of Africa when Karen Blixen is trying to create a dam for her farm. Farah Aden, the head of her household, keeps trying to tell her that she must not try and stop the flow of water. “This water belongs in Mombasa…” he tells her.
At the end of the movie, as she deals with another round of crises that includes a deluge of rain, the dam breaks and she finally tells the workers, “Let it go, let it go. This water belongs in Mombasa.”
Amazingly, I am watching "The Rains Came" on TCM and just as I posted this a terrible earthquake came that broke the dam and the graphic sweeping away of everything in the path of the water was stunning. Incredible really. I could not manage How they filmed it or where they got all that water. Still it was a perfect example of what you wrote about. Dams are of not much help it appears, and dangerous to boot. Still, your blog made me quite sad.
The exact quote is "This water lives in Mombasa" not belongs. It lives there; thrives and has its being. I think that's a significant difference.
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