The Witness

by Jeff Patterson

t.2002 Bad Day Studio

I stood outside Nagasaki and watched atomic fire blister the landscape.

I've watched herds of sauropods stampede across the plains of Pangaea.

I had breakfast with the elders of the Anastasi the day they vanished.

I was Aaron Burr's second in his duel with Hamilton.

I've shared figs with Hammurabi while discussing Amorite law.

I saw Gilgamesh slay the Bull of Heaven.

I have seen the secret burial ground of the Sasquatch.

I have seen the fiery beasts perform their violent mating dance at the molten core of the earth.

I chronicled the invasion of the Indus Valley.

I watched Robert Johnson perform the day before and the day after his meeting at the crossroads. There was a marked improvement.

I have seen what is imprisoned in the vaults below the Vatican.

I watched Salome dance for Herod. In all honesty she wasn't that good.

I watched Mata Hari dance, she was that good.

I heard the prayers chanted by the high priest of Atlantis as his beloved city slipped into the sea.

I've had high tea in the Dreamtime with the Aboriginals.

I stole golden idols from the catacombs of Tenochtitlan.

I saw Vesuvius bury Herculaneum and Pompeii.

I sailed with Odysseus, Jason, Ericson, Vespucci, Coronado, Drake and Bering.

I fought alongside Alexander, Judah, Arthur, Khan, MacDuff, Montezuma, and Grant.

I walked with Mohammed during the Hegira.

I walked with Moses along the fossil-encrusted floor of the Red Sea.

I stood guard on the Silk Road as the first wave of Visigoths took the outer provinces of Damascus.

I watched Rome burn.

I watched El Dorado burn.

I watched Chicago burn.

I've seen Bach perform in Vienna and Hendrix perform at Monterey.

I know where Earhart went, but I promised not to tell.

I picked the wrong day to cross the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

I've watched gryphons hunt basilisks in the depths of the Black Forest.

I watched Lucifer fall.

I watched Icarus fall.

I watched Wallenda fall.

I saw the last of the gods extinguish the lanterns in the marble halls of Olympus

as the pantheon departed for the final time.