A big pile behind Bayon. Blocks, cracks, a lintel, some lichen, simultaneously the highest and lowest points in the history of a society.
I'm shocked by the aweful extent of destruction perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. Even the jungle - asserting, owning the things it contains - would only slowly swallow, dissolve these thousand year old temples. By contrast, these great embodiments of human creation have been destroyed in explosive displays of power, and it seems to me a sign we're condemned to spend our lives undoing and redoing our greatest works.
Each stone here will one day be meticulously cataloged. How much easier will it be to rebuild the temple the next time we destroy it?
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