Description
Track Listing
I Can Tell That I Am In An Open Space, But I Can’t See My Surroundings Because Of How Bright It Is. I’m Squinting But I Still Can’t See. I Can Hear The Ocean In The Distance. A Voice On A Loudspeaker Says, “Begin.” I Don’t Know What To Do So I Just Stand There And Try To Block The Glare From My Eyes. The Voice Says Again, “Begin,” This Time Higher. It Keeps Repeating It, Each Time Slightly Higher. I Decide To Move Around And Search For The Loudspeaker – But When I Walk I Make A Clicking Sound Like A Horse. I Find A Hammer, Piles Of Wood, Nails. Again, The Voice Says: “Begin,” Even Higher. I Feel Different Suddenly – Possessed. An Invisible Person, Inside Of Me, Lifts My Hand. I Begin Constructing The Frame Of A Shelter To Enclose Me. The Loudspeaker Plays A Recording Of A Cat Purring.
They Tell Me That The Structure I Built Isn’t Working Out. I Look Closely At It And Realize That It Is Made From The Bones Of A Large Man. It Has Crawled Over To The Ocean And Is Drinking Water, Soaking Everyone Resting Inside. I Try To Pull The Structure Away From The Water, But It Is Too Large. It Turns Its Face To Me And Says, “Sticks And Stones Will Break My Bones.” We Assemble All We Can Find On The Beach And Destroy The Structure. I Feel Panicked When Someone Points Out That The Dust From His Body Is Exactly Like The Sand On The Beach.
We Are All Waiting Inside The Structure. We Leave And Pass Through A Security Checkpoint – Our Backpacks Are Searched. Once Through The Body Scanner, A Security Guard Hands Us Each A Hardhat As Well As A Strange, Colorful Rock. We Line Up Facing The Water And, One At A Time, Throw The Rocks Into The Ocean. They Are Light Enough To Go Far. When They Hit The Water, A Series Of Buildings Emerges Out Of Each Stone. Each Worker Disappears From The Beach And Reemerges In Their Building, Which Looks Like An Oilrig. They Begin Glowing As They Work. It Is My Turn To Throw. When I Do A Thick Transparent Screen Appears In Front Of Me And Causes My Rock To Rebound. I Keep Trying To Throw My Stone Into The Water.
There’s The Skeleton Of A Large Elephant On The Beach. We Are Sitting Around It In A Circle, Weaving A Shawl To Cover The Bones. Nehru And Edwina Are Nearby, Making Love In The Sand. I Worry That We Will Run Out Of Supplies To Weave With. Edwina Stops And Says That I Don’t Need To Worry – She Points At The Ocean. The Ocean Is Made Of The Same Material As The Shawl.
We Are Having A Celebration On The Beach At Sunset. I Am Sitting At A Large, Round Table, Cutting Mangoes For Dadu. Each Time My Knife Hits The Cutting Board I Notice That The Scenery Changes – The People Look Different Too— They Are Wearing Different Clothes, Their Positions Change. I Think That I Have Been Here, Working, For A Long Time, That These Are All Different Celebrations, Experienced Over A Lifetime. A Woman Walks By Me. I Hear Her Say That The Ocean Is Actually Fresh Water And Won’t Sting My Eyes.
There Is A Large Ship Approaching The Beach, Wrapped Entirely In Some Kind Of Flag (So We Can’t Actually See The Form Of The Ship). We Are Told We Must Stop It From Reaching Our Shores. We Pass Through A Security Checkpoint. Once Through The Body Scanner, A Security Guard Hands Us Each A Hardhat With Electrical Wiring Inside. We Are Told That The Wiring Will Stimulate Our Mental Capacity. A Voice On A Loudspeaker Says That By Focusing Our Minds On The Water, We Can Split The Ocean And Land Into Two Discrete Elements, Creating A Void That The Ship Will Not Be Able To Cross. I Focus On The Task With My Eyes Closed. I Begin To See Faces I Do Not Recognize Appearing And Disappearing Rapidly. The Sound Of The Ocean Becomes The Sound Of A Ringing Bell. Then Gradually, It Returns To Its Natural Sound. The Voice On The Loudspeaker Tells Us That The Task Is Complete. I Open My Eyes And See The Water Forming A Kind Of Wall, Separate From The Land And High In The Air. In Between The Ocean And The Land Is A Total Darkness - The Wall Slowly Descends, Returning The Ocean To Its Natural Form, And Closing The Void. The Ship Is Nowhere To Be Seen.
Details
- Product Type: BOOK
- Barcode: 9781634847506
Delivery and Returns
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