Sebald

i started reading
Sebald's "Rings of
Saturn" last night.

in earnest lawrence
i admit it.
good read, really.

some great lines
that i will
reprint here, soon.

he's got this
knack for description
and a sense
of place, not
setting, but place.

it made me
think about my
freshman year at
Western Maryland College.

I lived in
room 307 in
rouzer hall. and
early in the
morning when there
seemed to be
a gray light
covering everything. not
illuminating but coating
color, making red
bricks slate grey.
there was a
building, public works
maybe, down the
slope of the
hill behind the
dining hall loading
dock and dumpsters
that the trashmen
would slam to
jostle the hungover
college kids on
saturday mornings. beyond
those cans and
in the one
of the alleys in
westminster sat this
small building, water
treatment or something?
i will look
this week and
report back for
us. this building
had lights on
all hours of
the night, but
it was in
the mornings when
i would get
up and look
out the window,
and i'd stare
at those lights
and i'd lift
the window to
my room and
let the cold
air mingle with
the dry forced
air of the
heaters. my line
of sight always
brought me to
that building with
it's small exhaust
pipe constantly puffing
small clouds of
smoke steam marshmellow.
whatever it was
i don't know
but the security,
unexplainable and comfortable,
of those lights
being on meant
that someone was
awake and manning
the switch. whatever
that switch was.
someone had it.
under complete control.

grimm