Henry Miller — Hooray for Death
It’s a mad world
and when you become slightly detached
it seems even more mad than usual.
The aeroplane brings death;
the radio brings death;
the machine gun brings death;
the tinned goods bring death;
the tractor brings death;
the priest brings death;
the schools bring death;
the laws bring death;
the electricity brings death;
the plumbing brings death;
the phonograph brings death;
the knives and forks bring death;
the books bring death;
our very breath brings death,
our very language, our very thought,
our money, our love,
our charity, our sanitation, our joy.
No matter whether we are friends or enemies,
no matter whether we call ourselves
Jap, Turk, Russian, French, English, German or American,
wherever we go,
wherever we cast our shadow,
wherever we breathe,
we poison and destroy.
Hooray! shouted the Greek.
I too yell Hooray!
Hooray for civilization!
Hooray!
We will kill you all,
everybody, everywhere.
Hooray for Death!
Hooray! Hooray!
Henry Miller
Into the Heart of Life: Henry Miller at One Hundred