16.1.09

friday

Mysterious things are happening. For the past eleven days, I have repeatedly experienced tiny electric shocks. This has happened when I knock my knuckle against a light switch, when I shake hands with someone new, when my hand pulls a warm pie out of the oven and I see silver confetti bloom. I receive these minor thrills perhaps fifteen to thirty times a day, and have for the past fortnight. It seems such a lovely thing, I'm afraid for it to stop.

Ten, eight, or perhaps six days following an earthquake, a pair of green or gray or hazel (it depends who you are, how I feel, and on which way the light bends) searches the faces of the figures folding over coffee cups and blue screens. I pause, my index finger temporarily curled inside of my book, marking my place on page sixteen, as I feel the ground tremble through my feet. Instead of fear, laughter seems to be bubbling in my throat and a loose chuckle falls out of my mouth. I laugh at the most inappropriate moments (to the chagrin of some). For an instant, I consider asking the man painting the wall next to me if he keeps feeling multiple earthquakes (this was at twelve or thirteen), before I realize everyone else is sitting still, heads bowed before hot lattes and free wi-fi. They look normal, too normal to have gone through thirteen minute earthquakes. I leave before I can prove myself right, satisfied believing that I was sitting on top of a fault line in the corner of a coffee shop for half of an afternoon. Often, I prefer my version of the truth, for reality lacks the familiar gestures of imagination.

5 comments:

  1. Hon, I have the same prob sometimes. It's due to the friction from when we walk on the ground and the "electricity" we make in our body, thereby channeling it to metal, ppl..you can actually see sparks IF the other person is extra charged too. It happened to me once.

    I find it annoying cause sometimes it really hurts:(

    ReplyDelete
  2. sometimes when i kiss my fiance we can also see the sparks. its really funny.

    i once read that you can also generate electrity, from things like walking on carpets made from acrylic and riding on escalators.

    i am completely in love with your blog. i added you to my blogroll, so i can keep up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. a beautiful post.

    id love to think that the sparks you see and feel aren't your version of the truth, but in fact the most absolute truth you recently experience; all of it a hoax put on my God himself to remind you that life does have its every day wonders.

    have a wonderful day :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. forget friction and acrylic carpets
    it's magic I say!

    ReplyDelete
  5. what a beautiful post...

    ReplyDelete