In the beginning, there is Death.

All creatures meet it at birth. Animals never forget the encounter. With very few exceptions, we humans always do, even though we haggle with it several times a day. This commerce is never conducted with the brain or the heart, as we might expect, but with the genitals. The tinglings we feel between our legs are not always caused by sexual desire or fear. Mostly, they document our negotiations with the Clattering Skeleton.

These are facts. Straight from the mouth of Mahmut the Simurg. He is the Türkmen teller of tales from the circus who, true to his nickname, looks like a bird as large and dark as a rain-cloud.

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Last modified on July 25, 2006  | © Telegram 2005