ICE BREAKER by MADLEN STAFFORD
September 11 2024Every morning I drink water, from a glass jar, spiked with three spoonfuls of chia seeds. In bed, on the phone, soaking in the sunlight, my chia water spills on top of me. With my hands I spread the seeds thoroughly on my dress. With my hands. I leave my dress crumbled and wet on the edge of my bathroom sink. I won’t look at the dress for another day. When I do go back to clean the dress I will notice the seeds have sprouted little glowing roots. My heart is frozen. I will dampen my dress again, and shove it under the sink to the dim-lit corner.
Living a day for me is like the existence of a dream toppling over. Chia seeds swirl gray in my glass imitating the mass of a thunderstorm. When I place them on the spoon to observe them in the light I can see this luminescent white field. I can feel it. If any universal language exists between us all it’s love, and it is more alive now than ever. I am nothing while standing next to a building. Through my mentality is the only way that I have found a sense of freedom.
In a day spent walking around the city I collect a total of twenty-five objects. I quietly and calmly disperse them within various new places. I leave the smallest trace of my actions: an uneven wooden plank, a magenta lipstick mark, a spritz of sparkling water on the pavement. Everything in this world is free… you just have to steal it first. I stare directly into every camera… every eye that I am met with. A day is a memory before it’s even finished. My life is a moment with you.
Madlen is... gazing at the sky.
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