King of Swaziland Comics (PDF) (right-click to save)

We celebrate our polished finances

As our bloodlines dry up.

We watch the lions and tigers at happy play

But miss our soaring garuda,

Our glittering dragon.

We see the trees standing soft and tall under a warm drizzle

But thirst for the thunderbolts and deluges,

The mountain of sunyata.

We see the tents, the flags and the parade ground

But long for cut water-pipes, dead-of-night drills,

The joyous panic.

We glimpse the central kingdom cloistered in its leafy glade

Where once it sang from rocks and dust,

Roared to us from a ravenous sky.

Comedian Roberto Benigni says it all, and then the gravelly-voiced Tom Waits sings it: “It’s a sad and beautiful world.” Indeed. If you haven’t seen it before, check out Jim Jarmusch’s “Down By Law” (1986).

A song about fear, and about today (the video is unofficial, by whoever made the YouTube video -- maybe close your eyes).

I took this photo of a bronze statue we have, placed on a window sill, on a brilliant blue day.

Against the sky of the cosmic mirror, inky black windhorse, ashé with hoofs and tail and mane.

There it is, in a moment.

- Mark Szpakowski