inbtwn the clouds
a cross-continental collaboration
words by Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş & photos by Alexandra Noelle Chan
[travel is relentless. it is ceaseless. and it is heartless. in these past few months of flux and falling, i have begun to think of places as isles, isolated helipads where we either float or descend. and we don’t distinguish anymore between the fluffy and luminous or the melancholic and grey. everything is cloudy now. no one knows the distance between spaces because of malfunctioning apps, new covid restrictions, unexpected deaths, and tail ends to cities we thought we were over and done with. so here again is new york. a past life in encore. a strikethrough heart. where i find myself in a layover that could last forever…if i say so.]
the eastern sun fades the dancing shadow
an early morning without coffee
but over Brubeck serenading
the lonesome hours between glass and green
you learn how to dance again
and read the silence
as if it were a beginning
while it really feels so much like an end
the cawing grey
and piano keys restless for a drum set
it hasn’t come in yet
be patient, you say
and the plane ride will bear you
as you bear it
boxed and branded up
sewing the waiting like a long stich
the momentary loss of one life
as you race after another
through the damp fields dreary
and wildflowerless
every signpost an exit
the yellow arrows laugh as you scurry
from map to map
looking for the monarch way