An Attack in Paris

Twanging fiddles and the announcer saying 'promenade' as square dancers gallop in the next room. Surreal. In the hallway ppl are on their phones asking for the update. 40. 60. 100. 140. 155. A Francophile asks for the massacre's location. Bataclan, I think. Wit fails us and everything else feels cliche. Be strong? Light is greater than darkness? We've said this before and each time it feels less earned. Each time it feels more vague and wishful. In fact darkness is vast. Humanity's intermittent light seems shrouded in incalculable cruelty. In history enlightened civilizations fall into savagery all the time because of invading hordes, superstitions, corruption, callousness, plagues, fanaticism, madness. Darkness is the majority of time this season and next. Darkness is the sickening feeling. Maybe something lighter will come out in the morning. But for now, an honest darkness can be more condoling than the false flash of optimism. They are still square dancing in the next room but there's no cowboy screams. Just the sound of clomping feet as the announcer calls out the next move.