"SANDCASTLES" by erik

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:36:00 PST

And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

july 21, 1861. hundreds of spectators travelled by buggy to a tranquil pasture 30 miles west of washington. they brought picnic baskets with them, laid out blankets, and sat down to enjoy the show: more than 30 thousand union troops, sure to decimate the confederate rabble. what they saw instead was a massive defeat, and a retreating union army with almost 3,000 casualties coming straight towards them. in the resulting panic and confusion, many of the sightseers were wounded or killed. this was the battle of bull run, and the beginning of our nation’s civil war.

the british empire, at its prime, had the most powerful navy known to man. it stood basically undeafeated from 1700 to 1900.

the british empire is effectively gone now, with a little help from a flamboyant john hancock and a grumpy mr. madison.

in the 2nd century AD, the roman empire extended from syria in the east, all the way to the iberian coast in the west, and down to the northern coast of africa. the roman army was considered the most powerful and technologically advanced in the world.

a few centuries later, rome is torn apart by barbarians.

there was also the mayan empire, which disappeared mysteriously about 1,000 years ago. i guess some people blame the weather.

and there was the gupta empire, in india

the third reich, in germany

the union of soviet socialist republics

the maurya empire

the byzantine empire

the seleucid empire

the sasanian empire

the macedonian empire

the kushan empire

the hun empire

the ottoman empire

the babylonian empire

the assyrian empire

the portuguese empire

the almoravid and almohad empires

the french colonial empire and the second french empire

the egyptian empire

the holy roman empire & the catholic church

the mongol empire

the anasazi empire

the hapsburg empire

the athenian empire

the persian empire

twenty-five chinese dynasties

they’re all gone now, too.

tibetan buddhist monks make beautiful mandalas in the sand, only to destroy them as soon as they’re done.

when i was young, one of my favorite things to do at the beach was build a sand castle, and as soon as i was finished,

stomp on it,

kick it,

lay it to ruin,

and let the high tide carry it away.

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"SANDCASTLES" by erik