Monday, September 3, 2012

"Prisonier" by Norbertine von Bresslern Roth

Why were you just standing there, silent, for so long? I knew you were there, loitering beside the trashcan. I've longed to knock over that trashcan, examine its contents, day after wretched day. Handle a half-eaten pretzel, sniff a soggy, empty soda cup, just for a change of pace. Just for the sake of something new. It's not that anything inside this cage is bad. But, oh, the tedium!

I noticed you there, but I dared not stare back at you. I know what annoyance it is to be stared at, and didn't want to frighten you away. You stood so long, I thought you might be aiming at something. Perhaps, after all the gawkers had gone, you might do something interesting. But you just hung around for such an achingly long space of time, and then slipped away, passing into the crowd, nameless, like all the rest.

Day after day these faces, these figures, bleed into each other and become like wallpaper in the most abhorrent of rooms. Curse this insane asylum. I no longer know my own voice, or preferences, or temperament, for all that is unique is lost in this sea of identically miserable days.

3 comments:

  1. wow. beautifully written and paired with the image.

    btw--did you mean peace where your fingers typed pace?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you.

      And no, I meant "pace", as in "change of pace" or a break from the typical routine. But nice to know someone actually reads these. I mostly write them for myself, but I like to think some people out there enjoy them.

      Delete
    2. how wierd of me! or as they say in the movies, "DUH!"

      well... in my experience, few people are strong in both the visual & written arts. but you.... you're firing on both hemispheres.

      Delete