A Landscape in Fragments

Olivia Smock

 

I'm thinking about it again.

The deep red and bright oranges, a golden tint given to every inch by the afternoon sun. The blue sky, no clouds to obstruct it. The dirt roads, lack of concrete. Wide open spaces filled with the greenest grass, couples lay in one another's laps, kissing, embracing, loving one another. Grand structures watch over them, glittering with gold, glowing with white, shades of copper and sea foam green, older than time, taller than trees. Flowers of every shade, rainbows in the dirt, not a petal out of place. People are quiet, respectful of the world around them. They know it to be sacred.

The muted grays, greens and blues, feathers of white--all are strewn about. The cries of gulls are the only sound, along with the quiet crashing of waves. The ground is cold, soft and wet, the people remove their shoes, just to feel the sea on their toes. Broken shells and tiny rocks, to see one intact is a rarity. They pick them up and take the artifacts back home. Sand sticks to their feet, they laugh and smile as they trying to get it off. But they don't seem to mind. Foreign waters on their skin seems to be worth the trouble. They hold hands as they walk back to temporary homes.

The burgundy, white and turquoise, shining metal and squealing wheels. Fluorescent lights, long falls and wide gaps, empty tracks, posters for movies already out, their names changed, to fit a language you don't know. People are silent, they look at their phones, waiting for a ride to arrive. Plastic seats, metal bars, strange words scratched into the walls, indecipherable, even to those who live here. Shaking, rattling, sudden stops, more people on, more people off, it changes every time. The sun shines bright through the glass, the golden hour. It disappears behind bricks and lightbulbs, squealing of metal on metal, forward movements come to a sudden halt, the people regain their balance, and get off and on again.

My vision is blurred, my nose is running, my lip is shaking. I miss that place.