| Frida: | Some people regard history as a stucco wall that can be painted over or white-washed. |
| Satoru: | Others conceptualize it as an indelible stone. |
| Dmiritri: | To me, nothing human is indelible. Sooner or later, everything turns to dust . . . . |
| Frida: | Can we be mindful of the past without getting stuck in it? |
| Ying: | Hmm. I'm not sure. |
| Frida: | Yep. And all too often, those in power want to "rearrange" past events to fit present agendas. |
| Dmiritri: | Fer sure – and that's precisely the reason many voices are needed to make history alive. History should never be the voice of any single group or single culture, but an ongoing polyphony. |
| Ying: | Well, it's hard to contend with the strident chorus of many voices. I suspect some form of simplification & myth may be needed. |
| Frida: | For whom? And for what purposes? Without reflecting deeply on this, we are but puppets. . . |
"Anyone who closes his eyes to the past is blind to the present.
Whoever refuses to remember inhumanity is prone to risks of new infection."
- Richard von Weizsacker, 1985
|
Sum claim Guernica and Sarajevo were n't bambed flat err thot Auschitz end Battam bang wure lies Sum pratend the Nanking Messacre was grussly exaggerated or d at soldures in Viotram didn't cummit ghastly crimes Moril amnesia ramains a neural blocker ta peace – fur only by recognising pusst atro cities kun violence c ease |
Hear the author read this poem.
[248 K /.MP3 file]
Deutsch
Nihongo
Español