Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Albatross

From Journal #52

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

1:42—No sun here in WSQ—
And it’s really too cold to sit here, so I guess I’m heading up to Union Square... feeling pretty bad... 
4:38—In the confines of the back room of the Unspeakable Albatross Café! [Now gone! All shuttered up and closed forever—I stood in front of the place in shock—I couldn't believe it—




I could only get a narrow glimpse into the dark and gutted interior through the slit between the doors—and I shot this ghostly photo: 
The interior didn't make sense: that window shouldn't have been there... I distinctly saw a woman walk quickly past my field of vision in the interior as I peered through the crack—and she made eye contact for a split second... impossible!]
I am today cursed* by workers who seem to follow me everywhere I go—with their buckets, mops, and overpowering stench of ammoniacal chemicals! [NH3(g) + H2O(l) ==> NH4OH(aq)] The sun has partially returned, but it’s still cold out...
Weakened & sapped by poison; I am skittish & nervous; any sudden sound can send me to twitching and starting... a sad state for the once robust kid. Absurd cacophany back here—a junkyard of the mind...

4:51—I have a mind to return to the park if it’s actually warm enough for such an indulgence.

... Escape from the Poison Trough of the City of Absentia! Snout-in-Trough! Heading to WSQ!


5:22—WSQ—On the Rim of the Circle...

6:02—The longer I stay away from that poisonous hell***, the better I feel.
Ideas flickering around the Circle and the benches.

Accordianist won’t stop—it’s really annoying me—terrible, repetitive “music” and off-key singing! [I am a crank. There was never any question about that.]
I looked at myself in the mirror in the bathroom at Barnes & Noble and I saw an unshaven and unkempt old man staring sheepishly back at me! The horror! Do I need to apologize about my encroaching old age? I really don’t f#cking care—I just want some God damn fresh air!

6:41—The sun goes down in the park, as it must...


* The Ten Thousand Curses and Their Explanations, B. Spaeth, 2008, Serious Ink Press (Unavailable at The Warner Library)

*** Unknown reference...




No comments:

Post a Comment