I imagined taking him home.
I wanted to help him.
I gave him food and clothes, cigarettes and money,
but he wouldn’t go away. He didn’t have any papers.
I went to the office with him, and there was a whole
line of people like him. A little mafia of security
guards preying on the people in line. You pay
them, and your papers get passed to the official; you don’t pay –
you wait. I didn’t want to pay.
We went back home.
When I woke up, he was already sitting on the chair.
Rustling in the hallway, then the dog,
and the old man with the dog.
I turned off the radio. I got dressed.
He was waiting outside the door.
I got scared and gave in.
He was running after me with no sign of effort.
He overtook me just once, and ran ahead,
but waited for me to catch up.
Then he ran behind me at a steady, even pace.
I called Ola, and asked her to help me.
To take him away and help him.
The Sun,
the Sun
Blinded
Me
Albert Camus, The Stranger, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert, New York, 1955, Vintage Books, A Division of Random House
Albert Camus, The Stranger, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert, New York, 1955, Vintage Books, A Division of Random House
One two three
now
you’re standing in the sun and you
have to decide
what next
now
one two three
your move
a stick
one two three
you have a stick he has a knife
one two three
sunshine on the blade
glistening sweat and tears
you have a stick he has a knife
movement buried in the sand
slower now slower
the sun the sun blinded me
the sun the sun blinded me
now
I fall apart in the sun
a man and half a man
slower now slower
a man
and half a man
wheezing on the sand
the bloodstain glistens
I’m alone
silence
sunshine
where’s the shadow
silence
sunshine
where’s the shadow
Albert Camus, The Stranger, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert, New York, 1955, Vintage Books, A Division of Random House
Albert Camus, The Stranger, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert, New York, 1955, Vintage Books, A Division of Random House