Wise King Taken by the Foolish One

essay no. 19

Wise King Taken: Who's the Big Ape?

Dan Plonsey
September, 2001

Keywords: "Who are you?" I asked the Big Ape. "You'd better tell me," I said, "for I am... interested... in what you will say," I finished.
"You Big Ape," I tagged on.

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Wise King Taken: Who's the Big Ape?

So, what has really fallen, my friend? The bridge to paradise? Or are we, just now, leaving Eden behind, bound for a land where moral questions are not raised, but rather lowered upon us; we have something to lose; the decisions matter. We are, "as a child that is weaned of its mother." (Woodstock-the-bird, Psalm 131.)

What has fallen? What does the near-simultaneous fall of two adjacent towers of nearly equal size suggest? Why, the dropping of a pair of pants. The perpetrators are Freudians, perhaps.

What fell down? A couple very large towers. Piles of blocks, inconceivably, marvelously, magically tall. Why didn't they come down earlier? Were there no children playing in the vicinity? The towers were toppled by mis-application of human ingenuity.

Were the perpetrators primarily: fanatical, violent, ruthless, dramatic, suicidal, or ingenious? How good are they at what they do? Did they succeed by their standards? Do they consider themselves to be one of: fanatical, violent, ruthless, dramatic, suicidal, or ingenious? Maybe Stockhausen was right before he back-pedaled: this is the hugest work of art in quite some time, you bet. They're treating it like a block-buster movie (unfortunate pun unintended): attention, talk, sales, and even t-shirts.

But whose baby fell down? Aren't they going to pick it up, comfort it, soothe it?

-- Dan Plonsey, September 2001,
El Cerrito, California
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Wise King essays: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, or Plonsey's "Kingdoms Diptych" home page, or Dan Plonsey home page.

Wise King Taken by the Foolish One

Wise King Taken: Who's the Big Ape?

Wise King Taken: Who's the Big Ape?

-- Dan Plonsey, September 2001, El Cerrito, California Go to: Wise King essays: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, or Plonsey's "Kingdoms Diptych" home page, or Dan Plonsey home page.

-- Dan Plonsey, September 2001,
El Cerrito, California
Go to:
Wise King essays: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, or Plonsey's "Kingdoms Diptych" home page, or Dan Plonsey home page.