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#43175 09/26/01 03:48 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
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










#43176 09/26/01 10:38 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
We WILL go on, Dear Heart--and so will you. Love.


#43177 09/30/01 09:13 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
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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