BIRD LANTERN LANE
(Battle of Dulce, 1460)
Rilke had a fetish - things to be gentle,
certain to make comfort, nothing harsh
at all. The opposite of all which bodes for
progress and advancement. Like medieval
warriors cracking heads with sticks, eggs
gathered in a basket, loose and leaky, the
only thing recalled is the violence and the
gore. Stupid lanky men and their insipid,
facile Kings. Storybook adventures with
storybook endings. And here, on Bird
Lantern Lane, it is said, they once buried
over 600 British soldiers after one battle
of this or that. In a private aside, the
local guide told me of the horror never
mentioned - how the bodies were cut
and mangled : 'mind you', he said,
'that's really 600 heads, 1200 arms
and 1200 legs. Can you fathom
what I'm saying?'
(Battle of Dulce, 1460)
Rilke had a fetish - things to be gentle,
certain to make comfort, nothing harsh
at all. The opposite of all which bodes for
progress and advancement. Like medieval
warriors cracking heads with sticks, eggs
gathered in a basket, loose and leaky, the
only thing recalled is the violence and the
gore. Stupid lanky men and their insipid,
facile Kings. Storybook adventures with
storybook endings. And here, on Bird
Lantern Lane, it is said, they once buried
over 600 British soldiers after one battle
of this or that. In a private aside, the
local guide told me of the horror never
mentioned - how the bodies were cut
and mangled : 'mind you', he said,
'that's really 600 heads, 1200 arms
and 1200 legs. Can you fathom
what I'm saying?'
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