No…up, not down. Not down at your shoes. I have always been obsessed with floors and I could never figure out why the omnipresent terrazzo pattern transfixed me so.
Look up. Not straight ahead. But if you do, be sure to look over the person’s left shoulder. Eye contact is not necessary, contrary to what you’ve been told. That’s a thing we invented when we wanted to convince others that we were fully and wholeheartedly listening even when we were more distracted by unruly nose hairs and chipped teeth, breathy voiced “Oh I’m so very sorry” leaping from our lips to punctuate the conversation’s formality-
Just…look up. Not to the side. Don’t dare to glance at the mirror, as tempting as it may be to grieve the miserable toothpaste-stained, dust-flecked reflection you see there-
No.
Look up- for what?
Look up and see the clouds parting.
Look up and see a double rainbow in monochrome.
A sign.
Look up.
Do you remember that time you prayed so hard that the usually dull moon overtaken by the dirty city lights shone through the burglar proofing on your window?
Look up.
Maybe the clouds just happened to drift away the moment you opened your watery eyes and the last wish sailed out of your mouth and on to horizons of dreams falling off the edge of nothing.
Look up.
That may be your only chance of rescue.
Look-
zoegadegbeku.com 