Epilogue
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2010
Summary
Social scientists are not alone in recognizing the breakdown of longstanding boundaries. Their analyses of the sources and consequences of these transformative developments are necessarily wide-ranging and elaborate, but the voice of the poet offers a succinct way of summarizing the deep and enduring implications of the changes. Hence it is appropriate to conclude this volume with the wisdom of a contemporary Polish poetess, Wislawa Szymborska.
PSALM
Oh, the leaky boundaries of man-made states!
How many clouds float past them with impunity;
how much desert sand shifts from one land to another;
how many mountain pebbles tumble onto foreign soil
in provocative hops!
Need I mention every single bird that flies in the face of frontiers
or alight on the roadblock at the border?
A humble robin – still, its tail resides abroad
while its beak stays home. If that weren't enough, it won't stop bobbing!
Among innumerable insects, I'll single out only the ant
between the border guard's left and right boots
blithely ignoring the questions “Where from?” and “Where to?”
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- Along the Domestic-Foreign FrontierExploring Governance in a Turbulent World, pp. 450 - 451Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997