FURTHER AWAY THAN GEOGRAPHY

On the way back from Australia we stopped over in Abu Dhabi for a couple of days to catch up with some friends. We stayed on the New York University campus and early one morning I watched a group of men drag an electrical cable across an overpass. It was back breaking work even in the cooler hours of the dawn [jet lag had me awake at strange hours].
I wrote this:

Abu Dhabi 2018

Over this bridge anchored in dream,

before the real heat of the day builds,

in a snaking, straining line,

seven men haul a cable,

every step an individual battle with friction.

Reluctantly it unwinds from a large wooden spool,

as opportunistic gravity amps up their burden.

Three stories up and further away than geography,

I watch their struggle,

more than distance separates us.

This was the view from the lounge window and it was across this long overpass the men were unspooling the cable. The vista looked like something out of a J G Ballard novel.
On my first morning I awoke even earlier, in the half dawn, and watched a bus drive along the overpass. It was so dreamlike. I was reminded of the final scenes of Ghost World. You can watch it here.
I've been listening to Loch Lomond's latest lp recently, Pens From Spain. Here's the title song.

And here is Your Eyes.

Until next time.