“Quarantine Diaries,” by David Garyan (Day 45)

Quarantine Diaries – Day 45 April 28th, 2020

Trento, Italy

Duality

In a perfect world, the lock and key would be invented, fashioned by people who’ve never met— the former an artist and the latter a thief; the one would never know what the other had made, and so every door could be closed, yet at the same time stay open. The artist would search for a place, some realm to hide her heart, and the thief would go on dreaming about how to steal it.

In a perfect world, knives would be sharpened, cared for by sensitive people, and they'd be held without handles; each side would have an edge, causing the hand to bleed— even when it was cutting another. The blade would have two points but only pierce in one direction. No matter how shrewd, every spine would always bend, but bend only towards the ground.

In a perfect world, only agnostics could own ink, and only prophets could make paper. Those who doubt would be assured by the forest’s silence, and those with too much wisdom would let others speak for them.