Page 10 - WDickinson_Blackwell_Submission

On being Counterintuitively Displaced

I.

Imagine the expanse of blue: a peaceful hue attainable only by efficiency, focus,
and attention to detail. You are what you eat. Ensure the order of physical
entities: the cereal boxes must touch, the dishwasher must be inspected
routinely for malfunction, duplicates of everything must exist in the event of
catastrophe (which is the equivalent of displacement).

II.

Traverse each aisle twice. Place each foot squarely within linoleum tiles.
Imagine the tessellation of each moment as two parallel lines, stretching into
space, infinitely, professing the perfection of the future (you hope). Imagine
each barcode on the bottom of the box with its exacting ink, indicating a unique
set. Duplicates of each product haunt the innards of your shelves. If you do not
have 2 or 4 or 6 of each, surely, you will starve. The flush edges of containers
must maintain the walls, the boundary of the lungs, the stomach. Cleanliness
is ritual and not a preference. The countertops must be an unblemished
surface. Without clean-cut definition, there can be no controlled and calculated
breath.

III.

The twitching feeling that sleep is simply a façade, the illusion of rest, while the
numbers stack upon each other, reaching upward, concealing atmosphere. Sky
becomes cool sheets, stretched, planar blue constricting like an esophagus. You
shut your eyes, review the discrete moments for which you have prepared.
Remind yourself: you must swallow each dangerous number,
counterintuitively, in order to produce desired outcomes.

IV.

Imagine me, gazing up at planar blue while being digested, violently.

V.

Repeat: efficiency, focus, and attention to detail.

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