Stonecold

They are remembered by their strings and their structures. Black, white, and gray strings strung all over the place. That is it. Others are remembered by their cranes and saw horses. Scaffolding, metal armatures, and wooden catwalks all over the place. That is it. We are remembered by our stones. Black, white, and gray stones all over the place. That is it.

I’m in a city where only “stones,” names, dates, and “achievements” are visible. A city where everyone is resting in peace with their stones as their only connection to the world.

Some people were wagon sellers, some were servants to man, some were servants to god, some where governors, some were head of the cheerleading squad, some were devoted spouses, some were in the military, some were generals. Some people were men, some were children, and some were women.
Some stones are small, some are big, some are thin, some are wide, some are curved, some are orthogonal, some are glossed, some are not glossed, some are withered, some are brand new, some are hiding and some stand tall.

I’ve traveled up the hill and down the hill, through the row of stones, over the creek, through the zigzag of stones, and this is all I know of those who inhabit this invisible city.

The grass was cut at the perfect level.

The intersecting lines of decumanus and the cardo were drawn and the rules of the foundation were laid down. The bushes were clipped, but not too clipped. The space was divided according to the houses of the zodiac and each stone was ensured the proper influence of the favoring constellations. The path was paved, but not too paved. The black, gray, white, and black-and-white strings were hung.

The creek flowed just enough to almost be real.

I want to know where the three-headed children are hiding. I want to know where hunchbacks and bearded women are. I want to know where the walls to the strings are. I want to be both the sailor and camel driver. I want to hear the fisherman tell his story for the hundredth time. But for some reason, everything is invisible except for the strings, the blueprints, and the stones.