Leonard Schwartz

The New Babel

Babel of course is the fall of a Tower, followed by a vast, manipulated confusion of words.

Babble is language's beginning, before its a language, while its still song.

As Babel is both a ground and a zero, Middle English grund and Arabic zefir, cipher, Gallacized zero - lets call it Ground Zero.

Babel is defiance of the demiurge and hubris of the heart, ziggurat aimed at suns yet unborn, inside the mouth the mouth as desire: man creates gods.

Where before stood the North and South Phallus now yawns a smoldering Cleft, smoke subject to variable breezes.

The smoke contains bodies; we breathe one another. Thus, Babel is Kabul. (vert #6 winter 2002 | Schwartz)