Runaway Horses

There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.

(Kurt Vonnegut, Sirens of Titan)
***

A nation without leaders will become a nation of Runaway Horses.

Who will harnass the energies of the people? No whip, no rein, no bridle. The nation is left to roam alone. The herd settles. The Mustangs rear. The Horsemen will come.

Japanese writer Yukio Mishima's novel Runaway Horses explores the life and death of a man who turned against his government in order to save his government. Our artists today in America plan monuments to our dead, those who died saving members of the Senate or the White House, monuments such as the one above, the blood-red sword surrounding a crater in the Earth, a red crescent.

The nation grazes. The runaway horses will find their riders. The world will break apart under their hoof-beats.
***

Maple trees, wind chimes honor those who died.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON -- It will serve as a living tribute. With each wind, each breeze, a set of chimes housed in a 93-foot tower will create a different song in memory of the 40 people who sacrificed their lives trying to save the lives of others.

Four years after United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a reclaimed strip mine near Shanksville, Somerset County, on Sept. 11, 2001, the design that will serve as the national memorial was unveiled here yesterday in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags.

"Crescent of Embrace" will feature a Tower of Voices, containing 40 wind chimes -- one for each passenger and crew member who died -- and two stands of red maple trees that will line a walkway caressing the natural bowl shape of the land. Forty separate groves of red and sugar maples will be planted behind the crescent, and a black slate wall will mark the edge of the crash site, where the remains of those who died now rest.

As the black cloak that had hidden the winner was removed, a collective gasp came from those gathered, who then rose to their feet to applaud.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05251/567702.stm