Tuesday, September 11, 2012

My Country's Heart


Anthem
from the musical Chess
music by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA)
lyrics by Tim Rice










performed by David Carrol
on the Original Broadway Cast Recording

No man, no madness
Though their sad power may prevail
Can possess, conquer, my country's heart
They rise to fail
She is eternal
Long before nations' lines were drawn
When no flags flew and no armies stood
My land was born

And you ask me why I love her
Through wars, death and despair
She is the constant, we who don't care
And you wonder will I leave her - but how?
I cross over borders but I'm still there now

How can I leave her?
Where would I start?
Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart
My land's only borders lie around my heart

(emphasis added)

Photographs above and below by Jay Beets
Last year on September 11th, Jay wrote:
"My twin towers...you see them in my pictures...my westward view...
concrete things made to store wheat and grain and corn...
ten years ago...towers of ideas were brought down...
by men who fear ideas...
I like these towers...don't mind if they get in my pictures...
from time to time...
9.11.11

Wheat

Corn

Amber Waves of Grain

1 comment:

  1. A note from my brother, The Rev. Bruce L. Carriker:

    I don't mean to be contrarian today. Nor, do I mean to cause anyone pain. But, I choose to forgive. That doesn't mean I have forgotten, forget, but it might mean that at some point I chose to stop dwelling on (and in) the past. Just to provide some perspective, here are some one-day death tolls from the past:

    Yellow River Dam destructions, June 7, 1938 - 800K+ dead

    Tangshan China earthquake, 1
    976 - 225K dead

    Indonesia tsunamai, 2004 - 200K+ dead

    ...Firebombing of Tokyo, March 9, 1945 - 85,000 Japanese civilians dead

    Hiroshima - low estimate, 70,000 Japanese civilians dead

    Earthquakes, multiple - US Geological Survey lists 21 additional earthquakes with death tolls of 50,000+

    Nagasaki - low estimate, 45,000 Japanese civilians dead

    Babi Yar, Sept 29, 1941 - 34,000 Jewish citizens of Kiev executed

    Fire bombing of Dresden - 25,000 German civilians dead

    Korsun Pocket Massacre, Feb 17, 1944 - 20,000+ German troops slaughtered

    Auschwitz, estimate - 20,000 concentration camp inmates (mostly Jewish) per day, multiple times

    Fire bombing of Hamburg - 5,000+ German civilians per day for 8 consecutive days

    Antietam - 3,600

    D-Day Invasion - 2,500 to 4,900, estimates, exact figure unknown

    For those who lost friends and family eleven years ago, their lives were irrevocably changed. We empathize. But, we owe it to them to move one. We make their lives immeasurably more difficult by re-opening their wounds every 365 days. It's time to heal.

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