Durham

Durham Days

The sun appeared bright from the earth's surface in Durham. This was apparent to the humans as its light was reflected off of many things in the vicinity such as trees and their parts, lawns, bushes, fences, houses, humans, dogs, cats, buildings, and so on. Colors were bright, and highlights sparkled. Temperature was not noticed by humans such as this writer.

A woman slept, then got up. A man walked, then read a book, then consulted a dictionary. Men poked at a lawnmower. A woman unloaded things from the trunk of a car into a weatherbeaten white wooden house. A dog peed on a black plastic garbage bag. A telephone chirped. A car made a scrunching sound as it passed over gravel. A radiator was patched and installed. People bought and sold things, and prepared food, and ate it. Newspapers were printed, distributed, read, and discarded.

Leaves on trees turned yellow, red and brown, and fell onto the ground, and were observed and picked up by humans. A sleeping bag was used as a blanket on a couch. People drove home from work. People disagreed about music. Multiple points of view flourished and competed. A woman took a shower. Sunglasses were left in a car. Dreams and feelings came and went. Loose cat hairs adhered to everything, especially peoples clothes.

A man not seen for many years reappeared in a dream. Food was served and consumed in a dream. Expectations and anxieties arose in a dream. A woman yawned, who called herself a girl. Water gurgled as it flowed into a drain. Water gurgled as it flowed down rocks in the mountains. Water hissed as it came to a boil in a pot on a range. Frozen bread was thawed in a microwave oven. A sleeping bag was stuffed into a small black sack. Humans loaded a processing machine with paper and chemicals, fed in negatives, and color pictures emerged based on reflections of light.

A woman massages the body of another woman. A dog bites a man's leg. Three people take a car to a restaurant. A man lights a cigar and breathes smoke into his mouth. A woman removes the seat from a bicycle and puts it on another one. A dog's toenails click against the wood floor.

A fly is crushed to death by a man rolling over in a sleeping bag. Food is ingested. Waste is excreted. Dead leaves are crushed, considered, collected and lost. A stone is dislodged and moves several feet. Maps are consulted. Gasoline is pumped and paid for. Engine strains up and down steep and winding roads flanked by flashing sun-drenched autumn leaves and gray stone.

-- October 12, 1989