When Buildings Swirl Before Sunrise

 

It was a cold morning, a few hours ago. As usual the internal clock of my dog dictated that we go downtown before sunrise.

And in the dark, I saw a man struggling to walk. My dog recognized him and walked to greet him.

Over the years we have met this gentleman and his dog around the Court House. We have had a few conversations and our dogs socialized happily. This time he hardly looked at Ziggy but starred at me with an empty look when we got close.

“Good morning” I said, “I have not seen you for a long while. How are you?”

With that empty look, he replied “Do you really want to know?”

He looked unkept and his gait had changed.

“Let me sit down, everything is shifting around me.”

He slowly lowed himself and sat on the street curb.

“Everything is moving, shifting around me. This is the second time this happens to me. The tree trunks are moving, the buildings are not the same as I remember.”

So I sat next to him.

“I have Alzheimer’s and my balance is bad. It is a strange feeling when nothing is the same as it once was. You have noticed how difficult it is for me to walk now, yes?”

I nodded.

“Do you know if the Solid Rock is open? I need to eat something.”

He was asking about the kitchen where food is offered to homeless folks of the city.

“It is too early” I said. “Why don’t you sit down a little longer till they open.”

Ziggy was trying to get his attention, but he never looked at him.

“Time is shifting too. It now has an oval shape.”

… He looked like he had been on the street for a while. And he seemed lost yet his speech was fine and I could follow his rational and almost cohesive reasoning. I recalled that he was a professor once, and that we had shared discussion about poetry during our previous meetings.

“Should I call for assistance?” I asked.

“No, no need. I will figure things out. I am sure somewhere; someone knows what is happening to me. But I have no idea.”

Then he looked at me and drew a slight smile on his unshaved face.

“We will meet again on a better day,” he promised.

Photo taken with a Yashica Lynx 14e in Zagreb, Croatia

 

October 27, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023

 

PS/ I have written about this gentleman here  https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2023/05/love-is-rider-who-breaks-us-all.html