{"id":1340,"date":"2023-10-26T23:08:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T03:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/?p=1340"},"modified":"2024-07-04T21:31:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T01:31:45","slug":"dry-dock-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/dry-dock-five\/","title":{"rendered":"dry dock – five"},"content":{"rendered":"

the ghost and the redundant redolence<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

What may she have seen?<\/p>\n

the great void\u2019s great void
\nand someone has hotboxed the place
\nbut the ghost, mostly sheet these days
\ndoes not know how to breathe<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What must she be thinking?<\/p>\n

wondering where this is leading
\npondering its painful simplicity
\nthen, maybe, what pain could be
\nand where she got that idea<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He is, in fact, remembering things he doesn\u2019t know how to explain.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026but I hate the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

The weirdest part, by the longest shot, is that he isn\u2019t using his wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

He glimpses a familiar scent; a fizzing fleck of Friday dawning in the spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026what the fuck does that<\/u> mean?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat taste of ash,\u201d he pauses, grimacing.<\/p>\n

meaning, it seems, is opaque here
\nwalls made too well to be seen
\nthe way laid obverse to sense<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026is it getting stale?\u201d<\/p>\n

and the top-note, repeating<\/p>\n

On and on with little for looking yet more and more ground to gain.<\/p>\n

But now, again, ahead of them \u2013<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

that<\/u>, and its dread frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no,\u201d the small voice mutters.<\/p>\n

he shakes, stripes to shoelaces<\/p>\n

\u201cSame, um. Plan as before?\u201d<\/p>\n

A wind chime solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you hearing this? Does it sound familiar?\u201d<\/p>\n

space and shape<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve heard it, um.”<\/p>\n

hesitate<\/p>\n

“Somewhere.”<\/p>\n

The small voice doesn\u2019t look.<\/p>\n

The ghost does not slow.<\/p>\n

Briefly beside and briskly beyond, both go.<\/p>\n

The sound remains behind with the second shrinking line.<\/p>\n

On and\u2014<\/p>\n

Oh no.<\/p>\n

\u2014down dives the temperature, doubly deep this time.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s cold. It\u2019s only cold. It will be fine. Count back from<\/p>\n

\u201cFive,\u201d he whispers to himself, eyes glued to the floor.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only bad weather. It does not hurt.<\/p>\n

is he casting spell?<\/p>\n

\u201cFour.\u201d<\/p>\n

No blade. Just air.<\/p>\n

saying a prayer?<\/p>\n

\u201cThree.\u201d<\/p>\n

In. Out. There is no sting.<\/p>\n

a tic?<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trick is up his sleeve.<\/p>\n

an eve?<\/p>\n

\u201cOne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Um.<\/p>\n

A moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm.\u201d<\/p>\n

He seems to be intact.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d the small voice says.<\/p>\n

what<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I would offer to share my sweater, but it\u2019s smaller than it looks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t help himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWearing it is mostly a hassle, actually. It’s useless against the wind and it freezes below room\u2014um.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

crash.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWait,\u201d he says, \u201cthis is my sweater… I remember this. This is my least favorite sweater!\u201d<\/p>\n

how is he doing that?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt tastes awful, so I wear it instead! Get it? It\u2019s um.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wait.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounded funny in my head, I think,\u201d he thinks aloud, \u201cI\u2019m not al\u2014er, um. I don\u2019t remember why it\u2019s funny. Um.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reexamines his hyperpetite husk.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it look funny?\u201d<\/p>\n

A look.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sleeves are ankle-length,” he says, “one more stitch and you wouldn\u2019t see me at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

His soul for a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t remember anything else. It\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some strange spirit haunts his tongue;<\/p>\n

A lot of something seems to pass by, and on.<\/p>\n

a silent hum.<\/p>\n

The only one way looms way too long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the ghost and the redundant redolence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phanton","content-columns-1"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff.jpg",2308,1355,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-300x176.jpg",300,176,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-768x451.jpg",768,451,true],"large":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-1024x601.jpg",904,531,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-1536x902.jpg",1536,902,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-2048x1202.jpg",2048,1202,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-904x400.jpg",904,400,true],"post-thumbnail-mobile":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-480x420.jpg",480,420,true],"post-thumbnail-full":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-904x531.jpg",904,531,true],"origami-slider":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-904x500.jpg",904,500,true],"sow-carousel-default":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-272x182.jpg",272,182,true],"sow-blog-portfolio":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-375x375.jpg",375,375,true],"sow-blog-grid":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-720x480.jpg",720,480,true],"sow-blog-alternate":["https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/why-the-dead-eye-starstuff-950x630.jpg",950,630,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"boy","author_link":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/author\/theboy\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"the ghost and the redundant redolence","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1340"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1526,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340\/revisions\/1526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briefbloom.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}