The following piece is an excerpt from Glenn Bach’s Atlas, a long poem about place and our (mis)understanding of the world. Atlas began in 2003 as a sound art project, but has since evolved into an open-ended long poem.
Terrible things
come from the high mountain.
come from the high mountain.
It does not matter
that the ice has been tamed,
a field of blooms
of what used to be.
that the ice has been tamed,
a field of blooms
of what used to be.
Every landmark erased,
all the trees and flowers
popping at once.
all the trees and flowers
popping at once.
The glacier is a layer,
and it is the innocent
who pay for the guilty.
and it is the innocent
who pay for the guilty.
