Constantly craving more
, better, newer. A walk through town is nothing short of immersing oneself in a live showcase bombarded by impressions left, right and center. Society mirrored in every aspect: the latest in fashion, technology and just about anything spinning on wheels. A parade in the gleaming sun, the natural spotlight restless in an attempt to capture every new swag. Modern day exhibitionists strutting along busy streets to be seen, recognized and talked about. Outshining the competition: a firsthand ego-booster like sitting atop the Marlboro stallion, the self-proclaimed king of the boulevard, instant fame, the sought after amend for all the hard work and suffering in this twenty-first century act of appearance. I would rather it were an act of disappearance…
Let the raging sea sweep away the superficial scrap of our limited expression. Helpless without our comitted choreography of human artefacts on a fading stage. As the lights slump their heavy heads
, we fall silent. Finally. Then (maybe), the sudden recognition that we are naked and exposed. The cascade of words spills into gutters and washes away. So much spoken and so little said – of value, of truth, of authentic interest for another. Slabs of words to fill space and time with the regurgitated accounts of odds and sods…politics, sports, weather – some favorites to name a few. Substitute at free will for the grandeur of gossip, money spent and the chatter of the latest (fill in the blank). I hear the manhole shudder in its struggle to swallow the unending wave of decaying, hollow words.
Would it be unbearable to meet in silence or to withstand the temptation to talk just because? Or is there still a deeper meeting as we seal our lips and open our hearts?
After the clouds unleash their torrent and disperse, after the flood turns into a trickle and leaves us standing in perfect union, I wonder what you see as you look into your partners eyes as if for the first time. Now child, now brother, father, mother, friend. See. (And remain quiet – at least for a moment).