to brush most people's probing aside
is effortless, deflecting blows so they never see you - I've had to catch myself noticing people in weak moments. they make you feel like some unfathomable pillar
created by something ancient or alien, or maybe just yourself.
I despise the predatory element,
a weakness seen
that could blend in better -
now it’s something kind,
learning what makes people tick. I wonder if other people like me exist
building fortresses of knowledge
no one suspects we possess -
I catch myself studying people,
watching from outside the circle
of normal human interaction.
it’s not malicious,
just different -
a compulsion maybe, or just curiosity distilled into methodical observation.
it started as survival,
now I notice the pause before a practiced lie,
the subtle shift in posture when someone feels threatened -
all these blaring, bright neon signs I used to try to mimic.
sometimes I wonder if they can tell
I’m building libraries of their expressions,
cataloging their reactions
and how they signal belonging - it’s exhausting work.
sometimes I catch someone watching me,
an eye-meet, wonder-if they’re like me moment, or if they just sense something off
and wrong -
we were constellations once,
maybe now there’s just a slight delay
in recognition,
while I wonder if they’re like me
collecting a moment for too long.
The last one
January so bad only nine inch nails announcing a show in my country could save it
I can change! / digital collage
[all images sourced from wikipedia commons]
note: i will be posting my collage to a new account: flowerhoundart!
Tonight I've realized I have free will and can do whatever the hell I want, isn't that awesome?
The legacies people leave behind in you.
My handwriting is the same style as the teacher’s who I had when I was nine. I’m now twenty one and he’s been dead eight years but my i’s still curve the same way as his.
I watched the last season of a TV show recently but I started it with my friend in high school. We haven’t spoken in four years.
I make lentil soup through the recipe my gran gave me.
I curl my hair the way my best friend showed me.
I learned to love books because my father loved them first.
How terrifying, how excruciatingly painful to acknowledge this. That I am a jigsaw puzzle of everyone I have briefly known and loved. I carry them on with me even if I don’t know it. How beautiful.
Apartment Building (1964-66) in Düsseldorf, Germany, by Walter Brune. Photo by Manfred Ehrich.
inspired by an illustration from a 1950 magazine
we'll sit by the window
we'll watch the storm coming
the darkest skies open
the strongest wind blowing
we'll see it take over
the world as we know it
we'll be left with nothing
but each other's hoping
for the days to come after
the days of redemption
to finally bring forth
our longed-for salvation
and yet we'll be crying
and yelling, denying
for no one has taught us
how to handle dying
i wish i could stop this
and hold you forever
but this very moment
is worth more than ever
we'll sit by the window
and watch the storm coming
once we had a future
soon we will be nothing
Arial B.
September 2023