First Variation on "The Ninth Day"
….And it was evening and it was morning, sixth day.
And they were fruitful and multiplied, and as they multiplied they changed their world, for it was harsh, and they were strong. And as they changed their world, their world changed them, for it was strong, and they were meek. And they gave themselves dominion over every beast of the land and sea and sky, and every beast of the land and sea and sky had dominion over them. And they were of one existence, and they were of one essence. And they were of many existences, and they were of many essences. And they were freedom, and they were unfreedom. And each was a self, and each was an other. And each was an other, and each was a self. And upon common being selves turned nothingness, and with nothingness they carved many others into what they imagined the negatives of their own images. And some selves looked upon their others and gave themselves dominion over their others. And they desired freedom for self, and some desired oppression for others, for they imagined that through oppression they could have freedom. And some selves fought and colored the land and sea and skies with their others’ blood. And when one cried for peace, another slit their throat. And some elevated themselves above their others, and they took from their others what they desired. And some selves invaded the lands of their others, and they took from their others what they desired. And some selves placed their others in chains and took them from their homes to toil to death in distant fields. And some selves turned their nothingness on everything, and these selves made all that was not themselves their other. And they took from the land and sea and sky everything they desired. And into the land and sea and sky they put their desires' poisons. And they built beautiful things, and they built terrible things. And they studied the universe, and they learned its language. And they studied the 'verse, and they mislearned its language. And some read each other, and some read themselves. And some misread each other, and some misread themselves. And some made a new god in the image of their desires, and this god they saw in everything, and this god they sought and served with reckless abandon, and this god had many names, and this god was Value, and this god was Capital. And some selves fought to free themselves, and some selves fought to free others, and some selves fought to unfree others, and some selves fought to unfree themselves. And the god Capital violently subsumed all that it could, and its god-other struggled for its destruction. And to their god Capital many sacrificed the land and sea and sky and beasts and others and themselves. And the land and sea and sky were poisoned, and all beasts of the land and sea and sky were poisoned, and all others were poisoned, and all selves were poisoned. And the poison brought heat, and the heat brought poison. And the land burned and the sea burned and the sky burned. And many saw the looming end of all, and many saw only the endless endlessness of their god Capital. And lands emptied and seas swelled and skies stilled. And many cried for the death of the god that was killing them, and many cried for the death of the criers. And one by one they died, and many by many they died, and all by all they died. And their being died, and their nothingness died. And freedom died, and unfreedom died. And Capital died, and its god-other died. And the land and sea and sky did not die, and a mind would have seen them and seen that they had been made un-good, but there was no mind. And the sun set, and the stars came out, and a mind would have seen them and seen that they had been made un-good, but there was no mind. And no mind looked to the stars and wondered if there were other minds looking up at them. And no minds set out to find the other minds looking up at them. And no minds looked upon their own world or themselves or their others in kindness in care in love. And no mind felt their own absence. And no mind wept. And it was evening and it was morning, seventh day.