From Babel's panoramic platform
you could see, when it was clear,
Atlantis edging the horizon.
From the Ganges to Messina
stretched a world of dangerous beauty.
Most found danger, ours the beauty.
To the North we saw a sunset
red with fire and smoke, burnt offerings
from the barbecue of Baal.
The South was alien, sphynxophrenic,
morbid, full of defunct pharaohs
stored in massive tetrapacks.
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