by Christian¹ Hawkey

    At the time of his seeing a hole opened-a pocket opened-

    and left a space. A string of numbers plummeted²

    through it. They were cold numbers.

    They were pearls.

    And though they were cold the light they cast was warm，

    and though they were pearls he thought they were eyes.

    They blinked. He blinked back.

    Anything that blinks

    must be friendly， he thought， until he saw the code

    -a string of numbers-carved into their sides

    and grew afraid. He tried to close

    the space

    but it was no longer his own. He tried to close his eyes

    but they were no longer his. He tried to close

    his mouth， his hands， his ears

    but they were no longer

    his， were never his to begin with： this was the time of his seeing.

    The world opened. A line began. A tree grew above him

    and he thanked it. A sun dawned over the line

    and he thanked it.

    A building unfolded abruptly³ and blocked the sun

    and he put his hand on its side and thanked it

    for the shade， he put his hand

    on the sidewalk

    and gave thanks to the cement-it was cool and wet and

    took the shape of his hand into it-he put his eyes

    at the feet of a woman

    and she lifted them，

    to her own， and he thanked her， from the inside， and she understood.

    Wires swirled⁴ above him， straightened out along an avenue

    and the lights came on. One moon rose.

    A second moon

    rose on the windshield of a car and he thanked them both.

    This was the time of his seeing. This was the time.

    An electric green beetle⁵ shuttled out

    of the darkness

    and landed on his forearm， pulsing， he didn't remove it.

    It seemed relieved. Some things work very hard

    to leave the ground. Somewhere an infant

    called out， sharply，

    was comforted into silence. The deep note of an owl⁶ opened a tunnel

    in the air. He was growing tired. He didn't want to stop.

    The world opened.

    A line began.

    It traveled out ahead of him and returned， tracing a wave，

    white foam⁷ gathering⁸， gathering the moonlight，

    black water rising into a wall

    and he held up his hand：

    the wall froze， trembling， the head of a seal

    poked⁹ through， looked around， withdrew，

    he liked the way its whiskers

    bent¹⁰ forward

    as it withdrew and he liked the way his hand had stopped a wave

    so he thanked his hand and moved on，

    into the outskirts¹¹， the taste

    of salt on his tongue，

    the taste of brine， it made him thirsty although he had no thirst.

    This was the time of his seeing. This was the time.

    And the skeletal shadow of a radio tower

    loomed¹² to the right of him，

    creaking， a red gleam， then nothing， he thought he heard music

    passing through him and he was right：

    he was humming something

    from a song，

    but he couldn't remember the words， which was fine，

    they were sentimental¹³ anyway so he

    thanked the radio tower

    and kept moving，

    the road turning to gravel¹⁴， the gravel turning to dust，

    the ditches sang with frogs， the ditches were silent，

    a pair of yellow eyes waited for him

    to pass and so he passed，

    calmly， since the beetle was with him， trying to refold its wings，

    and the tree was with him， unfolding its leaves，

    and a man was with him， walking at his side

    -he didn't need to ask

    who he was， so he didn't， but in the corner of his eye

    he caught a glimpse： he seemed familiar，

    he looked like him

    and he was，

    although a string of numbers was carved into his side.

    He asked if he could touch them and he said Yes，

    touch them. They were cold numbers.

    They were pearls.

    He asked if he could kiss him and he said Yes， kiss me， and so he did.

    It was a strange kiss. It was a beautiful kiss.

    It seemed to last a long time.

    It seemed to last a lifetime.

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