05 August 2006

Silhouette



The man shielded his eyes from the low sun and scanned his new horizon. Late afternoon and the beach was already deserted. He lay back and pressed a head-shaped hollow in the sand. Behind his closed lids heat dots swam left to right chasing those tiny threads that look like life-forms under a microscope. Travelling light was liberating, credit card, toothbrush, tousled hair.

The kaleidoscope of swirling light made him giddy so he opened his eyes and stared vertically at the deep blue zenith. A silver needle, almost too small to see, grazed the high cobalt in silence. He remembered the noisy jets which dropped from the clouds near his home, by contrast they scored the sky like nails on a chalk board. Several minutes elapsed while he allowed his focus to lengthen to infinity. Thoughts shrank to notions as his mind steadily emptied. He liked this process.

Relaxed and calm, he propped himself up on elbows. The ocean was a flat mirror, blinding in its intensity. He squinted hard and thought he could make out the upper half of a cruise liner, buried partly beyond the earth’s curvature.

Suddenly his focus pulled to the foreground and fixed on a head and shoulders emerging from the water. He reduced his gaze to slits and saw a slim torso with long arms wading slowly from the mercury sea. In the shallows, slender legs were revealed and their stride became easier. Now he sat upright half smiling, half frowning. The huge setting sun made a sharp silhouette of his visitor as she crossed the sand to him, ocean water dripping from long, long hair. Her languid motion brought her smoothly to within a few inches. The man looked up into her shadowy face ringed by sunlight, “Jo?” He ventured…

… she smiled sweetly.
And he cruised on the weekends just to be seen
And they all made fun of him yelling, "…where's Josephine?"
Slobberbone - Josephine

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perfect,

To weird that this piece is set on a beach with him alone. This was also how my latest piece began in thought, only when I put it out on paper, it took a different turn, the thought behind it remains the same.....

Patry Francis said...

Most intriguing. So where IS Josephine?

Neetee said...

I absolutely love the deliberate details that makes this journey so worth my silent tag-along.

Thoughts shrank to notions as his mind steadily emptied. He liked this process. Beautifully delivered.

You are such a talented writer with such an impressive vision.

Russell CJ Duffy said...

and then there is 'him' in a tux and the music plays and he says 'my name is bond, james bond'.

neat writing PV. beautifully depicted.

JJ said...

Hey bro - you and I must be on the same page this week. Miss you - and see you too,
JJ

A.P. said...

I'm just dropping a line to say hello. I've been away for a bit, and I hope you're doing well.
I'm not sure when I'll post on my non-poetry blog again, but I'm glad to see you're still posting on yours.

Anonymous said...

HELP!!

Pragya said...

Very impressed with this writing. Have been thinking for days for a way to eloquently express this phenomena and you do it so well:

"Behind his closed lids heat dots swam left to right chasing those tiny threads that look like life-forms under a microscope."

Will visit more often!

Pragya

Perfect Virgo said...

DG - i have read your blog and see you are in a struggle. Time to gun your Honda along tight twisty roads and test the rubber's adhesion. Test it to the limit.

Silvermoon - I like deserted beaches. I used to simply re-arrange deck chairs on my Titanic. Now I'm in a life raft.

Patry - she's in my mind and I climbed a water tower to paint her name.

Neetee - I'm a 'details' kind of guy - just sufficient to paint the picture. Thank you for your supportive words.

CJ - yep, I feel like a spy - a spy with a golden gun and perhaps a blonde bombshell.

JJ - I turned the page and it was blank - I must steer my own story now.

Sirreene - I miss being the person I used to be but I am enjoying even more becoming the new person I am. I miss you too.

Anna - a break is therapeutic. I will post, though fairly infrequently as I need more personal space. I will check on your site from time to time.

DG - i'll try. I see things are tough and believe me i know all about tough right now. My advice is, persevere because the rewards are limitless.

Pragya - thank you for reading. I always think the best words come from deep inside one's private head. Deep inside.

{illyria} said...

you are the master of prose from the deeply stirred soul. well, that and other things.

~the girl FKA transience

Perfect Virgo said...

illyria - thank you for understanding the depth to which souls may be stirred. As to prose mastery, well it takes one to know one (formerly being known as Trans.)

gulnaz said...

you write so beautifully....

Perfect Virgo said...

gulnaz - ... and you return so gracefully.

gulnaz said...

thank you! i was just about to press the send button to an email asking you where you are? :) its been a while since u posted, hope you are doing ok.

{illyria} said...

sometimes, it just feels strange being someone who once was. but then i've moved on to better things. :)