ulanmaya
20051011
  strange and new - the sweet hereafter
Strange and New
by Atom Egoyan

There was a rustling,
that seemed like a bustling
of merry crowds jostling
at pitching and hustling.

Small feet were pattering,
wooden shoes clattering,
little hands clapping
and little tongues chattering,

and, like fowls in a farm-yard
when barley is scattering.
All the little boys and girls,
with rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,

and sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
tripping and skipping,
ran merrily after the wonderful music
with shouting and laughter.

When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side,
a wondrous portal opened wide,
as if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
and the Piper advanced and the children followed.

And when all were in to the very last,
the door in the mountain-side shut fast.
Did I say all? No. One was lame.
And could not dance the whole of the way.

And in after years,
if you would blame his sadness,
he was used to say, --
"It's dull in our town
since my playmates left.

I can't forget
that I'm bereft
of all the pleasant sights they see,
which the Piper also promised me.

For he led us, he said,
to a joyous land
joining the town
and just to hand

where waters gushed
and fruit trees grew
and flowers put forth
a fairer hue

and everything was strange and new."

As you see her, two years later, I wonder if you realize something. I wonder if you understand that all of us... Dolores, me, the children who survived... the children who didn't... that we're all citizens of a different town now. A place with its own special rules and its own special laws. A town of people living in the sweet hereafter.

Where waters gushed
and fruit trees grew
and flowers put forth
a fairer hue

and everything was strange and new.
Everything was strange and new.

---
the sweet hereafter
 
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