I.
1 This is a place where now is an eternity.
2 This is a place where one waits because, certainly,
3 A place where everything is about to happen yet nothing really happens.
4 Where one waits to wait, because one knows that everything that is about to happen will never really happen.
5 This is a place where everything is there, but somehow nothing really works. Where the doorbell rings, but no one is there.
6 This is a place where all is good, but
7 A place where everything starts but never continues, for one reason or another. Where potentialities accumulate and are revered for that same reason. Where a phonebook is full of numbers that are never dialed.
8 This is a place where trees blossom but never bear fruit. Where fireworks mask failed marriages.
9 This is a place where one searches but never finds. Where one finds but is never satisfied. Where one is satisfied but remains hungry. Where a child’s cries persist even after its mother breastfeeds it.
10 This is a place where one swears it was just right here a moment ago. I swear it was just right here a moment ago.
11 This is a place where one is scolded for not walking steadily on an uneven path.
12 Where the helping hand is injured, the good listener is deaf, and God is mute.
13 This is a place where one waits because, possibly,
So one never stops waiting. Just this one last cigarette and I’ll go.
14 This a place where one sleeps alone. Where guests never arrive and dinner remains untouched.
15 Where one goes to sleep after an unfruitful day knowing that sleep will never come. Where the next morning one wonders why one has woken up.
II.
16 This is a place where one waits because, maybe,
17 A place where connections are built to be broken. Where promises are made but never kept. Where hopes are nurtured on false assumptions and disappointment always takes one by surprise.
18 This is a place where messages are never sent. Where messages are sent but never received. Where they are received but never read. Read, but no reply ever comes through. Where one keeps checking their phone anxiously.
19 This is a place where one is always surrounded by people, yet one remains lonely. Where eyes meet, but bodies never touch—where bodies already carry the shame from the morning-after of an encounter that has not yet taken place. Where everyone masturbates in their own bed and all are synchronized.
20 This is a place where every stranger is a potential lover and an eventual abandonment. Where one kisses a stranger reproachfully with the desire for an absent lover who has returned to leave again.
Where have you been all this time?
21 On which side of the bed do you usually sleep? someone asks; to which one replies, I never shared my bed before.
22 This is a place where a bed is shared but the void remains there. Where someone’s presence accentuates one’s loneliness and the loving hand is pitiful. But, of course, it was always there. And when someone leaves, one keeps the other side of the bed empty because, well, who knows,
23 This is a place where all one keeps track of is the departure time of temporary lovers.
24 Where the toilet’s trash bin is full of discarded, empty condoms.
25 This is a place where the bed sheets do not retain the warmth of bodies. Where bodies do not leave depressions on the mattress. Where an empty bed fails to hold memories of the night before. It never really happened.
26 This is a place where one replays memories of the night before on end because the void that was left in its stead is too unbearable. Where one rereads sent and received messages, searching for a clue. Where one keeps checking their phone anxiously. Where one cannot fathom how such things can be temporary.
27 This is a place where everyone is someone’s one and many. Where everyone is here and nowhere.
28 This is a place where one compromises so someone gets what they want.
29 A place where one seeks validation, I just want to know I’m fuckable, and one is never good enough. Where one has to live up to someone else’s standards, but one always fails.
30 This is a place where one never knows what one has done wrong, and one is always sorry.
31 Where everyone is always becoming yet no one really is.
32 This is a place where one is loved because one reminds someone of another. Where someone suddenly disappears because someone finally realizes that one reminds them of another.
33 This is a place where one is always someone’s last resort. Where one is flattered for being someone’s last resort.
III.
34 This is a place where one waits.
35 This is a place where a child waits for their father to come home. Where a wife waits for her husband to come to bed. Where a cat waits to be fed. Where cars wait at traffic lights. Where patients wait outside of hospital doors.
36 This is a place where spectators wait to be entertained. Where entertainers wait to be applauded. Where a child longs for their mother’s nipple, and a mother, for her child’s mouth.
37 This is a place where those who toil wait for the day to end. Where sleep-deprived insomniacs wait for the light to break.
38 This is a place where the hopeless wait for a sign from God.
39 Where solitaries wait on dating apps, and consumers wait in supermarkets.
40 This is a place where lonesome bodies wait to be embraced, lonesome lips to be kissed, lonesome hands to be held.
41 This is a place where a cup waits to be filled. Where a dress waits to be worn. Where laundry waits to dry. Where a chair waits to be occupied. Where a book waits to be read. Where a door waits to be opened. Where an apartment waits to be inhabited. Where a road waits to be traversed.
42 This is a place where day waits to break and night waits to fall. Where a cloud waits to rain. Where a wave waits to break.
43 This is a place where time waits to pass. Where a moment waits to be lived. Where life waits to end. Where a corpse waits to decompose.
44 This is a place where one waits because, well, who knows,
maybe,
