On this day Napoleon’s
soldiers found
the Rosetta Stone,
Emile Zola fled
France,
Edgar Degas was born, and the first
women’s
rights conference opened. Different
years, of
course. But, god, such brilliant history.
Yet all
shadow stories now to our later
generations mired
in TV and fascism.
Shadow
stories flashing quickly on our walls
at night
with each passing headlight. Yet we’re
all asleep
in our dark present. We don’t
see them. Or
if we’re catatonic with
insomnia, we
sense but don’t sight their
sudden dark linking
forms. And to assure
we don’t
connect, some passing voice calls it myth.
Roger
Armbrust
July 19,
2023
