A particular attachment has been growing in me to the idea of "Forest Together" ever since the image was impressed on my mind during the desolate years in prison. The image came from the verses of "El Condor Pasa", which I used to hum to myself in the solitary confinement cells. At the time, I was a snail, unable to leave the tip of the twig, and a nail, stuck to a spot. To such a creature, the reversal to the forest, "I'd rather be a forest than a street", was a deeply moving enlightenment.

 

The street, like the sparrow, has freedom of movement. Yet the singers would rather be a forest, fixed at a location. And feel the earth beneath their feet. Be a forest, and feel the earth beneath, it was a revolutionary vision indeed to a man in confinement. It was a consolation that you can become a forest, though you cannot depart from the here and now. It was a new possibility for the prisoner. As I think more of it, it seems to be not only a personal aspiration, but a collective assignment for the society of the time, to be a forest and feel the earth beneath.

 

[Shenzi]

 

 

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