I’ve come out of the sentō and the prospect of going back to the apartment doesn’t seem like the right choice.

It’s my last night. My mind needs to decompress.

I don’t want to pack, think about going back at this point.

I walk in the opposite direction of the apartment and into the labyrinth of streets on this cool and calm night.

Left?

Right?

Cross that bridge?

Wherever my feet take me.

If I walked where others told me to walk then would it feel as relaxing? No. That’s why I walk my own path.

So that means that it’s time to start listening to myself more and less about what might worry others.

Sometimes we’re all a bit rude, usually we’re nice. Not surprisingly, we notice when others are rude and not so much when we ourselves are being rude.

Little plants in pots in front of houses. The hydrangeas haven’t started blooming yet.

No cars parked on the street.

One day at the start of the trip, my friend and I were walking down a smaller street just off Cat Street and this kid and his mother were buying some fruit. The kid, probably no older than five years old turned to the old man running the shop and said, “What happens to the shop when you die? Where will we buy our fruit?” The old man laughed as the mother bowed and apologised profusely.

I’ve reached a park and despite being empty and dark, does not feel unsafe.

Something about looking at flowers under the moonlight that really calms me. The colours are slightly different and they appear to take on a different form.

I’m thinking about rapid changes in behaviour. People going from hot to cold and how much I used to care about it. Now I just try my best to let them be.

A little way after the park, there’s a Family Mart down on the corner. It’s surprisingly small and doesn’t have the same kind of stock and range as the others, in particular that honey butter French toast I really like isn’t stocked. I walk out and keep going.

What lies ahead when I return?

How will it be when we cross paths again?

I think I know the answer but I’ll need to wait and find out.

I stop in the middle of the road and decide it’s time to go back. I turn around and start the journey home.

My jitters melt away, replaced with a colourful feeling of floating and a calmness I have not felt in so long.

The light splits into a thousand strands and spreads across the darkness, inescapable and intoxicating.

Has it been 5 minutes or 5 hours?

Amongst the sea of bare chests and unfocused stares, we sometimes lock eyes and smile. Occasionally a kiss and some whispers, barely audible in amongst all the noise. A hidden language only we are able to hear and understand.

Why did I keep myself tethered from freedom for so long?

I close my eyes and fall into someone’s arms. We look into each others eyes and laugh, the same inside joke.

Isn’t this paradise? We smirk this time.

Yeah, it is.

The lights build up and explode, breaking into a million falling stars that we don’t feel as they land our skin.

Someone’s body against mine and darkness once more.

The hum of an unseen air conditioning unit outside the hotel room window.

Weather warm and air slightly humid. Skin plump and dewy. Now is our time.

Every queer in town plus a few more. Side eyes at every intersection and disordered habits squeezing into those tight, tight pieces.

Laughter with friends, running from party to party, watching and egging each other on as we entangled ourselves with countless strangers.

Some of them clung on but only as long as snow fell, sweets were plentiful and invisible rivers of gold flowed. But you know, these things that cling on tend to drop off when you don’t feed them anymore.

Where am I finding this energy to go on? Surely, I’ll fall down. No time to think, just keep dancing for now. Quickly, before you sink!

We have to catch up! But I just can’t find the time. I’ll see you back home, I promise this time

I sleep lightly while that unit still hums. A cricket chirps somewhere outside.

As I awake, I see that it is overcast now, how can this be?

Everything looked so much better in the sun and under all those lights.

I can see the flaws that I couldn’t see before. The filter is gone and many things unseen through a lens are laid bare. Eyes are empty and the conversation is strained.

What happened to those sparks I thought I saw? It must have been the light reflecting off the streamers in the air.

I walk around confused and dazed for a moment but then my sense starts to kick in, this was just a hit, nothing more.

Yearning for my mundane and peaceful everyday where the highs aren’t too high and the lows aren’t too low.

It’s time to get out of here but don’t be fooled, I’ll be back to do it all again.

I close my eyes and this time I sleep real deep.

The 59 isn’t too busy this morning. The bright sunbeams break through the clouds onto the quiet streets. It seems people are still not quite ready for Monday but the world keeps turning and the tram keeps coasting along the tracks.

Two guys are taking photos of each other casually holding onto the straps dangling along the handrails above head. I’m not sure what the aim of this impromptu photo shoot is but they aren’t doing the best job. 

A group of school-girls pass their myki cards to one in their group who patiently waits for the slow machine to register before handing them back. Beep-Beep. 

It is a peaceful morning in contrast to the violent weekend I had. I wasn’t punched in the face, don’t worry. I didn’t even yell at anyone (not externally anyway). Violence comes in different forms. 

The violence of insecurity.

The violence of being disorganised. 

The violence of poor communication. 

The violence of wilfully ignoring people.

The violence of greed. 

The violence of fear. 

The violence of wanting when you are not wanted back.

If I had to pinpoint the start of this bloodbath, I would say that something shifted somewhere in the universe on Friday night while I rode the 11 tram as it zoomed down St George’s Road in Thornbury. It was just as the orange sky was being swallowed up by the night and darkness fell onto the world around me.

I entered some alternate version of reality where things pretty much looked the same, but everyone was much more violent, including myself. It took me a while to realise it. Everything seemed normal at first until I noticed the change from Saturday afternoon.

A sharp bump while I was out shopping.

Turning his head to avoid eye contact.

A glare from the distance.

Jokes being used to speak a harsh truth.

Pretending I didn’t exist.

Energetic greetings with empty eyes.

It was a lot.

While I think I’ve managed to slip back into my usual reality, being away has taken it out of me. I’m tired. My energy is low. Something is still different…not how I left things.

The violence and darkness I experienced in that other reality isn’t completely removed from this one.  It lurks in the shadows, smirking. Has it followed me?

It is frightening because I have seen the darkness in a lot of people who I didn’t see it within before. 

I saw a version of myself that I wasn’t sure I liked. Now he’s followed me here, stuck to me like a shadow. 

What does all this mean? I can’t quite grasp it yet.

Isquint ahead of me and make out that my stop is coming up so I pull the chord. The tram makes a slight bend at Haymarket.

Maybe it doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it’s all just me with my overactive imagination wanting to see more in the world than there actually is.

I get off the tram with a few others and the sun is now all but concealed by the clouds.

Or maybe it is the universe telling me that we all have violent darkness within us. Maybe the smriking reflection in the mirror is laughing because it has taken me this long to see that there were never meant to be two realities. I seperated them long ago and now they have inevitably come crashing back together. Which is why I find myself overhwhelmed and confused by everything swarming around me.

Not sure if I feel like I’ve dressed too warmly, or the tram was just hot and my body is still acclimatising to being outside.

That it’s important to see the dark in the world because we have to embrace the good and the bad together before we really see the world, before we see ourselves.

I cross the road and make my over to my appointment.

Yeah, I guess that’s it. I laugh to myself.

A cool evening in late summer with a clear sky.

I have just finished sharing watermelon with Amelie. As I make my way back to the apartment, I stop in the garden to glimpse the moon.

Big and bright in the dark starry sea, I’m transfixed by the glow as I float up into the sky. Leaving the earth and drifting weightless in the vast expanse, I feel someone pass me but I don’t see who.

They don’t see me either.

I draw closer to the surface of the moon. So close I can nearly touch it. For a second I manage to feel that powdery surface. I laugh to myself, it feels just like talcum powder.

The darkness and shape of the craters are so varied, I don’t even attempt to take it all in. For a moment I think of the someone I passed in space on the way here.

Who is this someone visiting earth while I visit their home?

As they take in the wonder of my home, do they think about who is visiting their home?

A splash in the distance from the pool, a cricket chirping unseen in the garden. The chilly breeze brings me back to earth in an instant.

I assume the visitor has been pulled back to the moon too.

What did they think as they felt the smooth, cool leaves on the bushes in the garden like I touched the talcum powder surface of their home?

The moon still hangs in the sky, illuminating the night.

I snap out of my state and walk inside the building.

💜

I’m lying down on the floor staring at the ceiling again. The breeze ripples the curtains and dances lightly on my face.

I take a breath and hold it.

Covering my eyes and pushing until I see the purple erupting in the darkness of my mind I start to imagine how the course of my life might change if I made certain decisions this year.

I expel my breath with strength and allow new air to fill me. My heart beats fast.

🪶

While I’m getting something from my bedroom one evening, I notice the peacock feathers are swaying from a breeze.

I look and confirm none of my windows are open. AC isn’t on.

“You want something proper to sit in don’t you?”

They fold slightly, “Yes.”

“Okay, sorry – you’re right.”

They bow without a word and I dip my head lightly in return.

💙

What colour is solitude?

Before I sleep, I position the pillows to create the impression of someone sleeping next to me. Tell yourself enough times that this fills a void and it really becomes that way.

🍃

Sometimes everyday life is the most moving and emotional.

☕️

Maiiit yew gawt anii mahnii faw a coffii???

I’ll buy you one, what do you want?

Larrtey wif free rorr sugaz!!

Okay.

Tsgottah bee rorr! Eyem bean helfy hahahahaha

I’ll be back.

Fanks! Eyell pay ya backkk hahahahaha yeh