The war is over. The time has come to gather and bury the bodies.
We have several machines that gather and bury the bodies. It is faster this way. The bodies are dispersed over too great a surface and this is why we invented machines to gather and bury the bodies.
The gatherer-burier works very cleanly and very competently. First of all, it identifies the bodies of the victors from those of the vanquished. Then, it weighs the body, takes its measurements, undress and washes it. It digs a hole and fabricates a plastic coffin. When all of this is done, it places the body in the coffin and the coffin in the hole. During this time, the loudspeaker of the machine plays a prayer, the contents of which are carefully chosen in accordance with the religion of the deceased. After having filled up the hole, the machine hammers in a cross or a stone, or any other appropriate symbol, to mark the tomb. Finally, the machine packs up the soldier’s personal belongings, writes a letter and sends the parcel to the hero’s parents.
The machine is entirely automatic. It can go off for several weeks without supervision. It can adapt to all levels of terrain, dive in rivers and the sea, traverse forests and climb mountains. It can also fly to intercept air-born cadavers. If, by chance, it breaks down, the repairman is informed immediately by a radio message that specifies the location of the machine.
As for me, I am one of these repairmen. I live inside my repair machine. I enjoy an acceptable level of comfort, a small kitchen, books, and a VCR. Most of the time I eat, I watch war films, and I wait for messages from machines that have broken down. When a machine that gathers and buries bodies sends an SOS, I rush right away to its aid. To be honest, I don’t have a lot to do. The repair machine does the work itself. I just sit back and survey the operations from the inside of my machine. Sometimes I wait for days for a machine that gathers and buries bodies to break down. For me, it’s a real joy to be called to help and have an occasion to move a little.
Sometime I see truly magnificent countryside. More than anything, I like the mountains. There is nothing more beautiful in the world than a sunset over the mountains. I even take photos.
But I find the greatest joy in writing little poems about the grandeur of these places I have visited. Little by little I have discovered my taste and gift for poetry. It’s funny, this need to put onto paper the feelings that one experiences before nature.
Now I have almost a thousand poems now about birds, trees, rocks, wind, snow, the moon, the stars, the clouds, rainbows, grass, or the meadow, or a thousand other things.
I would like to publish them one day.
