Published in Fab 07 - Ending
Graphic design by Sarah Napier - get the pdf
There are things that make my head spin.
A starry sky. The infinite space. And the story of starlight that takes millions of years to reach us.
The numbers. Infinity plus one.
Stuff that makes your head sore, doors that open into another door that opens into another and then another.
On the other hand, there are things that are soothing and make me feel at ease.
I like things that come to an end. I even like the disappointing ones.
Things like the A4 highway, at Mestre or Milan, with tollgates that look like the mouth of a river, cars in a row waiting to pay and people that remember their electronic passes only at the last minute.
Just like letter paper bought during a trip. You wouldn’t sacrifice the last sheet for anyone. But there are people that deserve a special sheet and all you are left with is an empty box.
Like the books you read or study that you always count backwards.
Like petrol, always on Sunday or in the middle of the night, far from any gas station.
Like milk, that you always need at eight o’clock in the evening when the stores are closed.
Like sugar or salt, but we’ve got neighbours for that.
Like the trees we meet climbing up a mountain trail.
Like the last cigarette in the rare cases that it really is the last one and the oddly pleasant taste of smoke in your throat that you won’t taste anymore.
Like the ink in the pens you can see through that don’t look empty but they’re only dirty inside.
Like the toothpaste you would like to use when you’ve eaten radioactive onions and you have to open the tube to gather little bits of dried mint paste.
Like a film that should have had another ending, sequels will follow but nothing will put things back together.
Like a homemade cake that we start eating saying ‘just one slice’.
Like the cell phone’s battery, just a second before texting an important message.
Like the way back home from a field trip. That’s just what you want when you’re a teenager chatting in the dim light with your classmates that are suddenly very cool.
Like the party, when the lights come on and the music is turned off and the floor is covered with sticky blotches and squashed food.
Like your favourite TV series: the last episode is announced, looked forward to, deluding and unforgettable.
I like things that finish. Period.