' Perhaps we should lay right down
in the same stinking cesspit that first
sullied us?!
Is that what you want? Shall we
sit on our goddamn laurels and bemoan
our accursed misfortune?
Shall we just bide our time and wait
for heaven to run dry?? Shall we wait?!
Brothers and sisters! No I say! and again
I say NO!! Today is a day of
reckoning.God watcheth this day and judges all.
Through the sacred rite of Baptism we
have tilled the soil of our souls,
we have readied our spirits for the SEED
of The Creator-GOD,Maker of All Things.
BEHOLD!! The Seed of The Lord shall sprout!!

In most the seed of The Lord
will flourish, rich and green-but lo!!
There are yet those who grow,even now,
black and twisted amongst us.
It is they who have corrupted the valley,
have infested it's soul,and have
brought the wrath of GOD down upon you!
The rain seemed to hammer a little harder
in support of the preacher.Wetly,Philo
asked "How shall we know,Preacher Poe? How shall we
spot the black'n'twisty pant?"
The congregation approved the question with a
low murmer.
" I Abie Poe, am a specialist in weeds!!
I am the hand that roots them out!!
They shall no longer say " I am the
Branch of Life"-they who are the
Stalk of Death!!"

Thee WHOLE E BIBLE

"Old Testament"

Book of NUMBERS

Chapter 22:
verses 23-31 incl.

23.)And the ass saw the angel
of the Lord standing in the way,and
his sword drawn in his hand:
and the ass turned aside out
of the way,and went into the field:
and Balaam smote the ass,to
turn her into the way.

24.)But the angel of the Lord stood
in the path of the vineyards,
a way being on this side,
and a wall on that side.

25.)And when the ass saw the
angel of the Lord, she thrust herself
unto the wall,and crushed Balaam's
foot against the wall:
and he smote her again.

26.)And the angel of the Lord went further,
and stood in a narrow place,
where was no way to turn either to
the right hand or to the left.

27.)And when the ass saw the angel
of the Lord,she fell down under Balaam:
and Balaam's anger was kindled,
and he smote the ass with a staff.

28.)And the Lord opened the mouth
of the ass, and she said unto Balaam,
'What have I done unto thee,
that thou hast smitten me
these three times?

29.)And Balaam said unto the ass,
Because thou hast mocked me:
I would there were a sword in mine hand,
for now would I kill thee.

30.)And the ass said unto Balaam,
Am I not thine ass, upon which thou
hast ridden ever since
I was thine unto this day?
was I ever wont to do so unto thee?
And he said Nay.

31.)Then the Lord opened the eyes of
Balaam, and he saw the angel of
the Lord standing in the way,
and he bowed down his head,
and fell flat on his face.

Passage Taken From The Book of Numbers 22
Verses 23-31.

This Biblical passage is just
PURE POETRY to me,and
I believe that ATASTA reads not
unlike Old Testament scripture.

Anyone else AGREE with me?

THE FOLLOWING LYRIC for me represents
some of Nick's " finest " poetic writing

" And the wind it bit bitter
For a boy of no means
With no shoes on his feet
And a knife in his jeans."

Lyric: ( above ) taken from the song
" THE LOOM OF THE LAND "
on the album ' HENRY'S DREAM** '...
Available on Mute Records.

**
I am OBSESSED by HENRY'S DREAM
This must surely be Nick's POETIC ELDERADO.

Don't forget that this is the album
that spawned Papa Won't Leave You,Henry
AND Straight To You,together with Loom of The Land,
I think I've MADE MY POINT !!

Don't YOU?

#1." All the towers of ivory are crumbling
And the swallows have sharpened their beaks
This is the time of our great undoing
This is the time that I'll come running
Straight to you..."

taken from 'Straight to you'
( Henry's Dream )

#2." We watched our friends grow up together
and we saw them as they fell,some fell into heaven
and some fell into hell."

(from ' Rainy Night in Soho ' )

#3." In a clap-board shack with a roof of tin
Where the rain came down and leaked within
A young Mother frozen on a concrete floor
With a bottle and a box and a candle
of straw Tupelo ! O Tupelo !!
With a bundle and a box and a candle of straw "

( 'Tupelo' from " The First Born Is Dead )

#4." We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything comes tumbling down "

( taken from ' The Ship Song ')
on the album The Good Son

#5." Her bleached and hungry eyes
Her hair was like a curtain
Falling open with the laughter
And closing with the lies."

Taken from ' Papa Won't Leave You,Henry 'from
Henry's Dream - on Mute Records.

And in time,something did descend upon me.
But was it sleep? A hex cast, perhaps? A spell?
A petit mal? A waking dream?
A sinister pall? An hallucination?
A visitation? A fragrant passing of an
angels wing? A Nothing?..

The above passage appears in ATASTA
at one of the most critical parts
of the novel.

"The child lives.It is a boy."And holding
out the bundle he added blankly,
"The Mother died in labour".
"He is born"said Wilma Eldridge,
her arms outstretched to receive the infant,
"As the prophet predicted,HE IS BORN".
And with the babe in her arms and
the rest of the women huddling around,
the cripple folded back the swaddling rug with
one finger.
A thunderbolt leapt from the teeming night sky.
And the craning sisters ruckled and clucked at
the tiny infant face that stared up
at them with shivering,
pale blue eyes.

End Passage from ATASTA

Night fell suddenly upon the little valley
and the moon menaced the heavens like
a terrible fang-a gilded scyth,flung into
the hushed nocturnal pastures of the sky.
And from midst the teeming cedars that
clung to the east-and west-side scarps,
the clicking fritinancy of a million cicadas
burst in shrill unison upon the
humid night.

They fell dumb with equal precision and
the baited silence hung heavily,a
weird and fully different din.
By moonlight the rich crops could be seen
to swell and rock,bumped by a lazy
zephyr that swept the fields and the
near empty streets,catching dust and coils
of smoke,occasionally turning fragrant with
lavender,lily or peach blossom,gooseberry rose
or pine,all borne away by the breeze
to whirl within Memorial Square and
to set the world a-rustle,lifting
dead leaves and dust to dance upon the
sepulchre of the martyred prophet and squall
at the feet of the marble angel,there,
beneath a moon tinted scarlet now,
each sinister tip as though dipped
in blood.

GOD this is beautiful
painful,POETRY !!

What a great film ATASTA would make
Two possible directors spring to mind,
David Lynch and close behind Baz Lurmann.

When time permits I will do a FANTASY cast
for ATASTA The Movie

**
The pix on this  page were UPDATED on 12/9/2003