a man in a room with two desks, white and black, looks out the window

Monochrome

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

I have two desks at home, one for work and the other where the rest of my life takes place.
Coincidentally, the former is white, contrasting sharply with the near-blackness of the latter,
although I would not seek any particular meaning in that, and besides, both gather dust just
as quickly. But when I think about it, white really emphasises the futility of my nine-to-five,
while black goes well with the solitude of the remainder of the day. Perhaps there is meaning
in colours; I just missed the right palette.

man under an umbrella in the rain

The fourth sin

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

Envy is a hard pill to swallow. Even a glass of summer rain does not help, although I try hard
to shower my conscience with its patter. There is always that distinct possibility that, by birth,
I am simply a bad person—if we follow the scriptures, of course, and overlook the simplistic
depiction. But I would rather reach for an umbrella and Wellington boots to survive one more
life outside your windows. After all, envy brought me here, so it cannot be that bad.

a beautiful young woman reflected many times in mirrors

In a wilderness of mirrors

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

It is truly baffling how easily we forgive a young, beautiful woman pretty much anything.
No matter how you look at it, it is unfair to her less appealing sisters that she can get away
even with a ridiculous hat that looks like a lampshade as long as she asks with an innocent
smile, So how do I look? And you can never be sure what, in her opinion, constitutes cute
or gross, for that matter, until you realise that in all her splendour she has also got nothing
but a crooked mirror.

the spider caught the fly

Good deeds

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

When I was a little boy, the priest in the catechism lessons admonished us to remember
to do good deeds. We should have done at least one a day. I wonder if feeding the flies
I caught to the two spiders residing in my bathroom counts as such—double, actually,
if you look at it economically. I guess it should, at least from the spider’s perspective.
But before you accuse me of mockery, we should love every creature, should we not?
And is a spider not also your god’s creation? Since I cannot stand flies, it is only natural
to support their predators. As they say, an enemy of your enemy is your friend, and you
should always take care of friends and family. And do not give me that look. I know I am
supposed to love my enemies, but since I am no longer a believer, well, I can always ask,
Why are spiders not vegetarians then? Or, even more, why is feeding required in the first
place? After all, even plants are living creatures.

portrait of a young beautiful woman with her hair blown in the wind

A distant muse

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

I hope you do not mind becoming a muse, as nothing more than an occasional verse
will ever come out of that. No expectations, no strings attached; your pure existence
three thousand miles or so away is all it takes. And even if, by sheer chance, we meet
somewhere, we can always avail ourselves of some small talk. I hope you do not mind
becoming just one more moment of reflection.

the man looks longingly into the ocean

Mariane

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

For Makenna

An ocean and three decades apart, how pathetic can a heart be
to change its beat for a blooming wit? Has it learned nothing
from Molière’s old geezer about what awaits a risible suitor?
Perhaps the Harpagons of yore really are my only brethren
in this old conundrum, but for what it is worth, I can always
share a verse about it.

a black and white man looks at a black and white cityscape where colorful clouds are coming

The enemy of good

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

While life is still in technicolour, I like watching it in the sharper contrast of a black-and-white
motion picture. And so you can imagine my irritation when I see on the silver screen a pale, flat
palette of colours instead. Where does this strange trend come from, and why? There is a saying
where I come from that better is the enemy of good, which basically means if you start messing
with something that is already fine, you will ruin it. I cannot argue with that after seeing Scarlet
Street colourised. I just hope they never touch Nosferatu.

woman in despair sitting on the bed

The language of demise

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

My first child was never born—the foetus failed to develop a heart and died.
The doctor assured us that we had nothing to worry about because, in the first
pregnancy, such things happen often—kind of a false start—and the next one
will be perfectly fine for sure. What really struck me then was the discrepancy
in the language. I guess the child occupied the parental realm of the possible,
while the foetus was the clay-cold reality of medicine.