In so far as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not: the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void. —Ursula Leguin
She is gone from her body and, in that, her work. Her work is with us. And here is one of her kin, Cin Norris:
Till the end of this world…
I never wanted to have children. Aside from the truly abhorrent concept of carrying a parasite inside my core for close onto a year, it seemed to me cruel to ask a new soul to thrive in the mess their predecessors made of this world. My wife of 15 years now had two small children when we met. I was extremely leery of entangling myself in the very situation I had been trying to avoid—but at least I didn’t have to carry them. It has been depressing beyond measure to watch countries blow themselves up in new and exciting ways, to learn that the number of plastic bottles in the ocean rival the number of fish, and to stand by helplessly as kids kill each other with military grade weapons. I’m afraid to check NPR for fear of seeing starving polar bears pull themselves across the disappearing ice or the new estimates on how far North Korea’s nukes can fly. This is world we’ve brought our children into.
Then there are the occasional glimmers of light; the man who just got a government grant to test his new cancer vaccine on dogs (yes, you read that right- a vaccine), technology that allows amputees to not only use lost limbs but feel sensations from them, and the discovery of several animal species that were thought to be extinct.
Perhaps it is the little bubble I live in, but I seem to see more and more stories of light. Tiny light, to be sure when compared to the darkness yet I can’t help thinking that enough pinholes together can make a great big hole, a great big light.
Instead of feeling pity for my kids, and make no mistake they are my kids, I’m watching them grow and learn and become part of that great big light. I have this notion now that it’s a race between the accelerating pace of this world’s destructive tendencies and the growing abilities of those who are determined to save it. Will we destroy ourselves before we can rescue ourselves? I don’t know, but I’m no longer afraid to watch. —Cin
And there is more to watch – early tomorrow morning, a red shadow will creep across the face of a brilliant moon. Be there. Write us what you see and feel. That light, that dark, that returning light.
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