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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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THE LAST FLOWER
by James Thurber
World War XII, as everybody knows, Brought about the collapse of civilization Towns, cities, and villages disappeared from the earth All the groves and forests were destroyed And all the gardens And all the works of art Men, women, and children became lower than the lower animals Discouraged and disillusioned, dogs deserted their fallen masters Emboldened by the pitiful condition of the former lords of the earth, rabbits descended upon them Books, paintings, and music disappeared from the earth, and human beings just sat around, doing nothing Years and years went by Even the few generals who were left forgot what the last war had decided Boys and girls grew up to stare at each other blankly, for love had passed from the earth One day a young girl who had never seen a flower chanced to come upon the last one in the world She told the other human beings that the last flower was dying The only one who paid any attention to her was a young man she found wandering about Together the young man and the girl nurtured the flower and it began to live again One day a bee visited the flower, and a hummingbird, Before long there were two flowers, and then four, and then a great many Groves and forests flourished again The young girl began to take an interest in how she looked The young man discovered that touching the girl was pleasurable Love was reborn into the world Their children grew up strong and healthy and learned to laugh and run Dogs came out of their exile The young man discovered, by putting one stone upon another, how to build a shelter Pretty soon everybody was building shelters Towns, cities, and villages sprang up Song came back ino the world And troubadours and jugglers And tailors and cobblers And painters and poets And sculptors and wheelwrights And soldiers And lieutenants and captains And generals and major generals And liberators Some people went one place to live, and some another, Before long, those who went to live in the valleys wished they had gone to live in the hills And those who went to live in the hills wished they had gone to live in the valleys The liberators, under the guidance of God, set fire to the discontent So presently the world was at war again This time the destruction was so complete... That nothing at all was left in the world Except one man And one woman And one flower
(c) 1939 by James Thurber, The Last Flower, A Parable in Pictures; also A Thurber Carnival, book and play
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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We WILL go on, Dear Heart--and so will you. Love.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ashes and diamonds foe and friend we were all equal in the end
- Pink Floyd -
These are the most pertinent words I ever heard about war.
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