monocle, he
says. a kal-
eidoscope.
the hubble!
it’s something
you’ve always
wanted to
learn but
have been
too afraid
to try night—
something
we do once
in a blue
moon. so i
am not keen
to burst his
bubble.
however,
i do quite
know what
i am doing.
in fact, it’s
all i have
done for
my entire
life. or as
far back as i
can remember.
i have just
never done
it quite so
officially,
and i am
a bit dizzy
with ad-
renaline.
i’ve cert-
ainly never
held one so
big before,
and have
never been
quite so del-
iberate about
the business
of it. he
thought it
would be
fun, and i
concur.
as for which
position i
prefer?
i am equally
as fine with
being in front
of the lens
as i am with
being behind
it. if i have
any rule,
then i
suppose
it would be
whichever is
the quickest
in a pinch.
one way
or another
i am always
on. unless,
of course,
i am liter-
ally at the
cinema. or
in front of
the box at
home (or
there-
abouts).
when so
situated,
i’m neither
focus nor gaze.
instead, i calmly
and reverently
allow my-
self to be
transported.
he doesn’t
know this yet,
but it is in
one of these
three realms
that he can
always find
me. which,
poor dear,
makes me
very much
unavailable.
but tonight
he’ll take one
end and i’ll
take the other.
and then, for
at least a
couple of
hours or so,
he’ll see,
as i do,
what it is
to be rid
of this
ungainly
world a-
round us.
we may,
in fact, run
into each
other, swept
away, as it
were, within
the folds of
some chorus
of human
collaboration.
or whatever.
would that
i were al-
ways so
ostenta-
tious. but,
to imagine
oneself
such a
fancy
god....
it may not
be an
eternal
escape—
just yet,
anyway—
but to-
night
it is—
at
least—
a small,
but ne-
cessary
diversion.
