bench
DESCRIPTION
There is a small wooden bench, a few paces from the edge of the pavement. It looks as lonely as he feels, positioned too far from the park to really seem like it belongs. Nevertheless, it is where he goes when he needs some fresh air; perhaps it is because it is so lonely that he likes sitting there. He’d sat there in the rain before, desperately trying to stop the pages of his book from getting wet, fighting a losing battle. And he sits there now. Eighty-Seven Benches *** *** *** ***TRANSCRIPT
Eighty-Seven Benches
He walked towards the bench. He sat down. He hunched his shoulders. He put his hand in his
pocket. He left it there for a while. He rubbed his eye. He pressed hard. He stood up. He sat down.
He looked behind him. He looked forwards. He dropped his head. He untied his shoelaces. He tied
his shoelaces. He stood up. He rubbed his eye. He pressed hard. He looked behind him. He put his
hand on the bench. He looked at his fingers. He sat down.
***
There is a small wooden bench, a few paces from the edge of the pavement. It looks as lonely as he
feels, positioned too far from the park to really seem like it belongs. Nevertheless, it is where he
goes when he needs some fresh air; perhaps it is because it is so lonely that he likes sitting there.
He’d sat there in the rain before, desperately trying to stop the pages of his book from getting wet,
fighting a losing battle. And he sits there now.
***
‘So, what’s it like there?’
‘Well, just, like, a normal park really.’
‘But, I mean, there’s gotta be a reason you go there, right?’
‘I dunno, it’s just kinda like, I dunno, nice, to sit there, I mean.’
‘But don’t you get bored?’
‘What, like-’
‘Like, just sitting there?’
‘No, no, I mean, its kinda, y’know, nice, to have the, the time to sit there, uh, to yourself and think
of stuff and uh, y’know, clear your head.’
‘Sounds a bit boring to me.’
‘Yeah, I guess.’
***
1x bench, wooden, natural brown
1x gate, metal, green paint
1x perimeter fence, metal, green paint
1x sign, ‘No Littering,’ white sign with black lettering
1x pole for sign, metal, natural grey
2x five-a-side goals, wooden, natural brown
1x basketball hoop and board, predominantly metal, white and grey
1x see-saw, metal, natural grey and painted red
1x climbing frame, wooden, natural brown
3x swings, metal frame and tire-seats, natural grey and black
2x bins, plastic, painted red
Opening Times: 24 hours a day
Number of visitors: few
***
In the darkness / In the daytime
He cannot make much out, / He rarely visits the park
But by the light of the moon / Except those days, few and far between,
And the streetlights, few and far between, / When he passes it on the way to the hairdressers
He looks at the page / Or posts a letter to home,
And sees what he has written / But even then, walking past,
And thinks about what he has said. / He barely notices it.
***
How can I tell you about that place? It’s more of a home to me than anywhere, truth be told. Yeah,
it’s a strange time to think about locations, but I’ll try. I should begin by telling you, and this is
unquestionable, it looks nicest at night. Sometimes other people are there, but as it gets later it also
gets quieter, and you can relax and really just do whatever. I’ve never dared venture to the park
itself. It looks fine, but I’m content with my bench.
***
he visits that place every now and again in his mind when he should otherwise be sleeping and he
knows that sooner or later that bench will always only ever exist in his mind and even though he
could go there right now and sit there properly sit there and not just think about it but he does just
think about it and his mind it is a hard place to describe but if he had to there would definitely still
be that bench that goddamn bench
***
---You look before you. There is a bench and a little further forward there is a park. The bench is
small and wooden. The park is currently deserted.
// SIT ON BENCH
---You move towards the bench and sit down. It is not very comfortable, but you don’t mind. If you
had wanted comfort you would have stayed in your bed. You think about why you’re here and sigh.
// PUT HAND IN POCKET
--- I am sorry. I do not understand the phrase, ‘PUT HAND IN POCKET.’ Please rephrase.
***
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bench bench / bench bench |
bench bench / [sit] bench bench |
bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench |
bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench |
bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench |
bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench |
bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench bench |
bench bench / bench bench /
bench bench / bench bench /
***
Before we get there I want to tell you something about the park. It’s...not got the best facilities. It’s
entered its old age, that’s for sure, but it does have charm, which is missing in a lot of these modern,
newer parks. I mean, sure, the climbing frame is a bit dangerous, and yeah, the swings are rusty, but
come on, you can’t say you prefer those ultra-super-whatever parks that you see everywhere? They
hardly have the same magical character, the same soul as this one, right?
***
Sitting on a wooden bench,
Looking at the little park,
Feeling your heart throb and wrench
As it beats and breaks apart;
Watching every empty swing
Swinging static in the night;
Feeling breaths of cooling wind,
Flickering of dim streetlights;
Now the moon is faintly glowing,
Now it sinks beneath the clouds;
The pathetic fallacy of knowing
What this life is all about.
And as you sit and think and stare,
Looking at your hands,
You wonder why you end up there,
Or if you’ll ever understand.
***
At night, green turns grey or black or blue, and grass looks strange, as though it were beneath the
sea, especially when the wind picks up and blows and moves each blade to make them shimmer and
ripple in the night, as the stars’ twinkle reflects in emerald sapphire onyx depths where children
once splashed about and dogs paddled, chasing balls and Frisbees and their own tails, but now it is
silent and still, and as we look upon the water, the only swimmer is the moon.
***
The bench is waiting, but no one sits there.
The swings are hanging, but they do not swing.
The climbing frame twists, but no one climbs upon it.
The see-saw sees, but it is not seen.
The goals gape open, but no one scores.
The basketball hoops bend, but still no one scores.
The park is there waiting for you, but no one comes.
The park is calling, asking for you, but no one comes.
The park gives up, gives in to the night.
I am here.
***
As they hold hands
and watch for shooting stars,
Hoping to see that trailing light
sail across the sky at night,
They know that they Beneath them grassy verges
belong to each other; tickle their backs
They know that they But they barely notice,
will outlast the moon, looking up
And know that they at the cloudless night,
will outshine the stars.
Watching the sky, He closes his eyes
watching for that briefest and kisses her,
glimmer of eternity. And in that embrace,
They see the star.
***
I hear a noise and look up and the park is before me, and I realise that this is the first time that I have
seen it properly. The playground equipment is there, sure, but for once, there is a little girl playing
on the swings. In the distance a lady – I presume it’s her mother – walks a dog. A man I take to be
the father knocks a football along the grass with a young boy. I smile, put my book away, stand up,
and leave.
***
The bench (sit on it (go on)) looks lonely. I sit (that’s it) on it to keep it company (what now? (get
your book out)). I take the book from my pocket (it’s a nice book). I carry it everywhere. (drift) I look
at the park, (how nice) it looks nice, and (what could I write about it? (___________ ( ))) I think
about what to write about it, but struggle for inspiration. ( ) Instead I listen to the sounds of the
traffic on the main road, hidden behind the trees.
***
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Start?
***
I do not know distances. I am not very good at estimating in metres or feet. There is space between
the asphalt and the grass and the tarmac; and if asked to offer my best guess, I would not be able to
comply. Suffice it to say that the expanse before me is greater than that behind. In other words, I
can walk to the bench and return to the road in less time than it would take to walk from the bench
to the park itself.
***
Before me the park was silent –
It was still.
I did not tremble in the cold
Despite the wind.
I walked towards the swings,
And rested
With my hands on the metal.
It was the first time that
I had been that close.
((((((((((((((((swing)))
I had been that close –..
It was the first time, that,
With my...hands. On the Metal,
And, rested,
I walked towards the swings.
Despite the wind,
I did not tremble in the cold
It was. Still,
Before me, the park was silent.
***
The bench was a spectre, haunting his nights. He wasn’t sure it even existed. After all this, the park
remained a blank white page flanked by expanses of black and blue. That bench, that once comfort,
blinked and winked at him. Jagged lines of grass underfoot made him clench his toes and rub his
eyes. It was late and the park was getting darker whilst the sky was getting lighter. He had passed
into daylight without realising. He decided that finally, now, it was time for Sleep.