Ali at Midnight
And so the millennium year of our dreams has culminated in Times Square with the great Muhammad Ali anointing the descent of the glittering ball of light, Muhammad, our noble warrior, heroic in the face of life's battles, the wild poetic flashes and dazzle gone to a quieter poetry, a poetry of human grace and courage.
The bombshells explode. There are atrocities in dark chambers. Hatred in dark minds. There is hunger and depravity and senseless death and struggle.
On the rope-a-dope of life. Taking the punches.
He gave us that hard lesson.
The glory days, the dance behind him.
The inner flame burns, a flame that transcends human frailty, a presence that speaks for deeper issues of human existence, Muhammad Ali, a voice for human dignity, for the indomitability of the human spirit, a voice for mankind.
The glittering ball of time descends.
Let 2001 begin with the inspiration of Muhammad Ali upon us.
- Eve Berliner, Editor