or: Language’s Chapter 11*

The incident at Babel was a gift
and not the punishment it seemed at first.
It gave the human spirit a great lift.
Despite our brief confusion, we’re not cursed.
A plethora of languages expands
our concept of the world in which we live
and spurs our desire to understand
new paradigms. To receive and to give
translations from other times and nations
means that we must reach approximations,
make allowance for interpretations,
even extrapolate new creations.
Though humbling, it is good to know that we
cannot express in one tongue all we see.



* chapter 11 in the Bible is the story of the tower of Babel; it is also a
pun on bankruptcy.
 
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