The river is flowing down
On the opposite bank, its glittering waters cut across the heart of the
city, the lime-trees girdling its course in green clumps.
A few months ago my father left us: it was the first time I saw someone
dying. You get a strange feeling when you become aware that what you
had been waiting for, looking closely at his face was, in fact, his
last breath. His heavy lids, covering his sunken eyes, had already
ceased beating, like those of the dead corpse on the photography. The
oncoming death everyone expected, had suddenly occurred on a clear
morning, after a long night's watch.
And simultaneously, the universe around him had collapsed: All the
links, all the things related to my father, thus cut off from their
vital roots, were untied and strewn around. Lying deep in the memories
of those he had left behind, they are now hidden in darkness mostly.
How violent the sudden absence of a severed life! Our relatives were
deeply moved on becoming conscious that death can leave such a void in
this world.
While the things of the outer world only reveal its void and absurdity,
this mere gathering of inconsistent elements, death reminds us that its
reality lies in this very emptiness. On the other hand, all those
sparse elements tend to show that the existence of our inner self and
the unity of its universe are linked to our lives. Does that mean that
there lies the secret of life whose existence depends on our awareness
of death?
Under the real-life lime-trees, I recall memories lying deep within me,
with tree stumps hidden among them: I expect their organic reality will
conjure up a new space filling up the void of non-existence. Strangely
enough, we are dealing with a work of art which is only a parody of
life, filling the gaps and piecing together what had been left over. In
other words, it might well be a new family tree taking is roots in the
awareness of the world as it is, in its non-existence, disintegration
and blankness, thus revealing the understanding.
What gives birth to conscience is this work which consists in revealing
the space limited by the understanding.
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