In the beginning, they brought down the statues. It was an occasion marked with much ceremony. Who are these men that they should stand over us, they said as the first began to fall. These hands that mocked us, hearts that fed on our misery. Let them not represent us any longer. After they had come down, the men gathered round and urinated upon the broken faces while the women stood by and laughed. Children ran and played amidst the piles of men they knew nothing of. And it came to pass as the statues were felled that a heroine was also brought low. Questions began to surface. A debate followed. In the end, it was pointed out that she shared a connection with another figure that had been brought down without question, and so deserved her newfound place upon the earth.
And the plinths and the pedestals were empty at the end of the first day, and they saw that it was good.
And they came to the schools and the places of learning, and took from the classrooms and lecture halls the men and the women that had been teaching there for years. You must no longer speak, they said. You have had much time to speak and still you have affected no change, so now you must be silent and give space for other voices to be heard. There was a great deal of controversy. Many protested. Some agreed with what was said and took up their part in the removal of themselves. Several asked, If we may not speak now, when will we be permitted to speak again? But no one could give an answer.
And the classrooms were quiet at the end of the second day, and they saw that it was good.
And they came to the places in which ideas resided. They took from the libraries and the galleries and the museums the books and the artworks that were no longer needed. These works, they said, are the pillars of the old world. These works were used to oppress, to malign, to injure. But we will heal the wounded and set free the oppressed. The ideas were all gathered together into mounds on the streets, and there they gave light to the new world dawning. Several were spared. These, they said to one another, these we will keep. These will guide us when the time is come to build again.
And the orange glow against the firmament marked the end of the third day, and they saw that it was good.
And after the fires, they gave out amongst themselves a list of words that were no longer to be used. These words, they said to one another, are vestiges of the old world that has so oppressed us; unless they cease to be used, the old world will never perish. The lists were taken in to be studied and memorized, but immediately, offenses began to occur. Though they tried to adhere to the proscriptions they had placed upon themselves, they were continually upset by names and idioms and reflexive turns of phrase. It’s in the language, they admonished one another, that’s how deep the rot lies. After much consternation, and not a few examples made, most of them figured out that all transgression could be avoided if they simply kept silent.
And so silent they went home at the end of the fourth day, and they saw that it was good.
And they came to the Houses and the Chambers and tore up the pages on which the codes had been written. These laws were created by other people in other times, they explained. But we shall be governed by the past no more. Let us make for ourselves laws that will deal truly and justly with each person. But when the question arose as to what the new laws should be, a great argument ensued. Whose ethics were to serve as the foundation? Who was to judge? Who would enforce? In the end, they put back together several of the pages that had been torn up, and agreed to reconvene the following week to work out the rest.
So satisfied, they made their way home at the end of the fifth day, and they saw that it was good.
And they took down the flags and other symbols of dominion. We shall suffer these symbols of hatred and greed no more, they said. Let us make for ourselves in our own image a symbol that will represent us over the face of the earth. Agreed, they sat down to discuss, but the planning again soon gave way to controversy. Whose image was to be used? Was it to be male or female? Black or white? Yellow or red? Suggestions of trees or animals or shapes were put forth, but they could find none that they all held in common. Violence nearly erupted before one of them stood to remind everybody that no symbol at all was better than the wrong one. So, they agreed to revisit the matter after the laws were sorted.
And the poles stood barren at the end of the sixth day, and they saw that it was good.
And on the seventh day, they came together to admire all that they had created. From atop their piles of stone, they looked out over the changes they had brought on the landscape, and congratulated one another for all their hard work. A few who had mastered the new ways of speaking told stories to the young of the world as it was, and how they, banding together, had remade it into what they now saw. The children were awed. So were they. But let us not grow complacent in our task, they admonished the young, directing their eyes to the vacant horizon. There is much work yet to be done.
