Shape

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

You see,
Standing beside the boy
you make a sound on the plinth, say with your hand,
He brings his palm down sharply against the stone
The sound is high, short
hear the reverberation?
A brushing exhale rushing forward through the columns
It travels slowly around the sweeping arc of the circle
It will take precisely one minute for the sound to return
It fades but is audible
The man’s face tracks the sound on the far side of the colonnade
Boy watching the man’s face
Hearing the sound as it travels
Eventually the man faces the boy
Turns to face away from the plinth
The boy blinks
Likewise turns
The rush of air and then
Clap
It is gone
The man looks at the boy
Past the boy’s head
Then back
Blink
He turns and leaves

The boy turns back to the plinth
Stares at its flat surface
Pans his head and looks at the woman sitting on the bench
Back leaning against the wall
Eyes at his face
Hair moving of its own accord
He looks back at the plinth
Doesn’t touch it