It was like the tail end of a film; I'd been on a crazy car ride to get to the museum, dangerously swerving everywhere, in the company of people who were on the run from the law but all the while I remained serene, knowing that this was necessary in order to get to where I was going.
I usually take as much notice of skin colour as I do hairstyles (ie rarely), but it seemed particularly significant that a black-skinned security guard was assisting us. I'm not sure why. She was calm as was I, she knew her job well, and though this was not a drill she managed to maintain her charming smart-alec tone, treating the situation as if almost a joke and in the process putting the evacuees at ease.
The group was being directed to the brass structure stretching from the floor to the top level - a twin helix spiral which we were expected to slide down.
There was trepidation from some, in that they may have found themselves in trouble if any one of us so much as touched the exhibit, but the importance of choosing a side and sliding down was imparted to us emphatically, as the purpose was not to just "get everyone out" in any way possible, but to do it methodically, according to a very specific process.
We were to slide down in pairs. I recognised my partner; a dear friend. I was Evercalm, as though I'd experienced this before, but I had the strongest feeling that it was important for me to get her to go though this, whether by action or inaction on my part, guiding fate where possible. The group also consisted of other friends & lovers from my past - some of which had experienced this already already, and those that had were helping the rest, as if they held a knowledge, or more accurately, a "knowing", from the benefit of experience.
I held out my hand to touch the brass - it glowed, sparking with an almost electric energy. I looked over the side of the atrium wall & down, saying matter-of-factly to the security guard, "you know I'm just going to fall off the slide right?". She looked back at me indifferently, replying that I'd be fine. I didn't care about that particular inevitability, and the emerging smirk on my face displayed some cheek in pointing it out, but I knew full well that I was fated to do this, and I had every intention of seeing it through.
It was without relief - as there was no doubt - that my friend made it to the bottom. She was there relaxed, with a calm temperament to match mine, almost as if she was waiting for me; or maybe oblivious; or maybe just waiting for the inevitable to happen, which of course it did.
(Tue 20100720 From a 0047 dream)-
Blind Melon - Walk
"And under a sun that's seen it all before
My feet are so cold
And I can't believe that I had to bang my head against this wall again
But the blows they have just a little more space in-between them
Gonna take a take a breath & try again"
-
No comments:
Post a Comment