today i am surrounded by beauty. the cluster is filled with pretty faces staring intently at the sundry tasks before them. a wrinkle of concentration here, the trout look there, bits of half heard mumbled spanish. innumerable sighs. here come three more pretty faces. i hope we have enough workstations to trap them in this cinderblock paradise. even if a caged bird stops singing you can still admire its plumage. i can’t keep them caged under my scopophilic gaze though. i’ll let them fly away and spend their smiles on others. i hope they appreciate what they have been given.
it is best when they laugh though. for it above all things makes them more than just an object and gives them personality. a sudden burst or a muffled giggle have the same impact on me. it unplugs them from the matrix just long enough to break the impersonal silences that pervade the day. it burns itself into my mind like the phosphor afterglow on a fading tv screen. the late show is over. time to go to bed.