Mental Landscapes
City of Streets
In the city of streets, footsteps come wandering, circling, surrounding, engulfing you. You turn, round and around, but in despair. Who follows you from the multitude of the faceless millions, who stalks you from the shadows? You see the silhouettes in corners, reflections, a ghost. You seek it out, but are you the hunter or the prey?
After a treacherous path, you find it standing below an arch, a dark road stretching behind it. It draws near. It has been waiting for you. You reach out, as does it. Your hands touch, but they don’t. It knows you. You know it. You realise — in the city of streets, there is no escaping yourself.
The Other
“Are you real?”
“I could be. You tell me,” said the other.
“You seem to be. Why are you here?”
“I don’t know. Where are we?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Have you been here before?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
“What do you know?”
“I…I know…something is wrong.”
“Oh, do tell.”
“I need…I can’t do…it’s difficult…”
“What’s difficult?”
“Everything…”
“Maybe I can help?” said the other.
“You can?”
“Yes. But I will need complete honesty.”
“Yes…yes, anything.”
“So, tell me — are you real?”
