He sits on the roof of someone's house, long abandoned, with the turquoise waters lapping against the brickwork a few metres below him. The giant mosquitos buzz around the flooded street. On the trunks and in the branches of the tall trees, choirs of insects and birds produce a fizzing blanket of white noise. Vines loop down into the water and schools of fish dart between the grasses and reeds of the aquatic jungle. The searing heat is trapped below and concentrated by the canopy, just as the light is pressed into muted tones. Sweat drips off his nose.
Paddy Dobson
4th March 2022