Hum

(This is the most recent piece in a project that begins here.)

As preparations are made, the mechanics of their actions provokes thought
Or thought provokes preparations
And neither
There can be only preparations
Then patience
The waiting
Waiting to see
Understanding that it can already be seen
That it no longer comes
That it is here
Always was

I choose first voice

Standing there for a long time
As time then was carefully measured
There was nothing to either side
Nothing before and nothing after
Nevertheless the surface beneath my feet
In contact
So I cast my eyes down
Tilt
I stand on a column of infinite length
Lift one foot
The body begins to move
Orient
Contact with the surface again
So movement begins
I walk along the surface of the column
Through the space punctured by light travelling through time
Measured time
And I too am measured

The world had emerged
Stuttered for a while and departed
It would return
Shapes would grow and evolve
Far from the beginning of all things, they would change
I saw the decisions made
The things left behind
The entropy of countless thoughts that were born and died
Killed
Grew old
I was one of these things
A product of time touching the surfaces of matter
Felt it as it scraped against my skin
Over the surface of my eyes
My thoughts as they changed
Grew and evolved
Light was measured
Permitted and denied
Shapes and meta-shapes
And when I was permitted to examine, to touch, manipulate, I stopped
It was as a kind of sight
And though time was measured, there was an abundance of it

Now, time is in excess
Or non-existent
Or dependent on unknown things
Whether I have permission is uncertain
Nevertheless still moving
Still seeing
Participation

The crowd of human figures moving before and after my shape
The vibrations in the air as shapes pass quickly through other shapes
Forcing their way through
Separating one thing from another
Gravity
Reactive force
The rules that dictate how the dust and stones will fall
The woman as she lies down on the floor
Eyes still
The slow expansion of her ribcage
Compression
Pause
Expansion
The man that moves through the streets
That sits in the chair awake
Eyes toward the ceiling
All this geometry

I move slowly through a long interior
The walls contain doors to rooms
One room and then another
Arranged in parallel
The sounds come to me first, as things are ordered
I stop
Pan the head
Listen to them coming from somewhere within the shape
Quiet reverberations
I move
The interior filled with smaller shapes
Smaller still
Arranged in the emptiness and the silence
Sounds louder still
I approach the end of the interior
From a large opening to the side, a child appears at speed
It sees me and slows
A reverberation from the space beyond where the child has emerged
It moves towards me
Reaches up a hand
I look down at the small palm
Move my arm forward
My finger is held and I am led towards one of the doors to the side
The child navigates the shapes of the room
I pass over them
The rear wall is separated into panels
The child reaches for one
Exerts force
It slides and there is a small space beyond
There is a pulling at my hand
I follow the child into the space
The child moves to my side so that we face the room
Slides the panel with its other hand
Silence
Darkness and a sliver of light that permits vision of the room
The shapes arranged within
Then sounds
Silence
Sounds again
An adult voice of sporadic, wordless emissions
Heavy, uneven foot-falls
It has entered the room
Loud sounds of the shapes in the room colliding against one-another
And the voice louder still
Heavy inhales and exhales forcing sounds from its throat
It approaches the panel
Reaches up with hands and grips the edges
Slide
Eyes wide
Limbs trembling
I look down at the child who holds my hand
The child regards the adult
A sound emits from the adult
I look up
It grasps one of the shapes in the room
Swings it up
It collides with my body
Again
And again
The child raises its arm and points
— | – No.
The adult moves through the space and collides with the opposite wall in which it becomes embedded
Stillness
Silence
Then the blood slowly emerging from the mouth
The child releases my hand
Walks forward into the room
Navigates the new arrangement of the shapes in the space
Stops before the adult
Turns to the side and exits