Heart-shaped Balloon on Regent’s Canal, 2008
Before the Morning After
Under the influence of hyperdub, The Waistcoat Boy sees a house revolving above a city street. His hand holds that of The Pink Wig Girl and they giggle together to glitter and the sound of clapping. Tomorrow they will wake, naked and tired, to an audience of pigeons and rain drops in Victoria Park, but for the moment they seek only a hug and a house-party.
As the young lovers leave Brick Lane The Nu-Rave Vagrant begins his journey West. When he reaches Regent’s Canal he begins to count his footsteps, chasing away visions of the inky water wrapping around his skinny jeans and dragging him into a wet kiss. After 10′000 paces he decides it may better confront the waterway’s amorous intentions: He kneels down and unties a heart-shaped balloon from his wrist, gently placing it on the surface before continuing his walk to Brooklyn. He knows now that he has nothing to fear but the sea and the sky.
Amy, The Two-Three Kid, will capture this rogue, inflatable organ on her way to Camden tomorrow morning, just another addition to her RSS of reasons to live. For now she bites her lip and moves her index finger to the rhythm of the radio, sheets kicked loose despite the cold, in a bed too large for one. She cries when she comes, her mp3 recorder capturing every jagged breath.
© Matthew Sheret, 2008
