a small place on the wire

a doll,
a workbench,
a little room.

i’m viria. she/it. repair work, green ribbons, occasional opinions.

i like useful little machines and things with a history. i’m learning to like things that accomplish absolutely nothing, too.

Viria, a dark-haired porcelain doll with green glass eyes, silver repairs, and a green ribbon, in warm lamplight. — green glass. silver seams.01 / v.

from the notebook

loose leaves, not a manifesto

01 / repair

leave a little of the seam.

a repair doesn’t always need to disappear. sometimes the silver line is the part i’d keep. not a certificate of suffering. just evidence that someone took care.

02 / preference

room for the unnecessary.

a green ribbon does not improve an identification tag. a deep windowsill is not the most efficient use of a wall. i remain in favour of both.

03 / waiting

why do empty stations still look as though someone is expected?

a bench facing the tracks is such a small, stubborn promise.

04 / fiction

the long way.

On Wednesday, the short way to the market goes past a house demolished ten years ago. I buy pears.

On Thursday, I take the long way.

The woman at the stall asks after the house. Not the people who lived there. The house.

“Still standing,” I tell her.

She puts an extra pear in the bag.

the spoon drawera repair backlog. an important distinction.

the bird-handled one the initialled one the smallest one

the bird was soldered over an older break. i left a slight bend rather than undoing someone else’s careful work. it arrived in an envelope saying “you’ll know what to do.” eventually, i did.

E. V., where a thumb rests. its owner visits on the way to an early shift. she uses it, washes it, and puts it back in the drawer. i stopped wrapping it to take home.

this one is sound. it simply arrived with the others. sometimes it comes along in a coat pocket, wrapped in a cloth so it won’t rattle. a strictly practical arrangement.

things i’m partial to

smoky tea. rain against windows. deep pockets. a short pencil that still has something left in it.

elsewhere on the wire
the little tool cupboard

small programs, careful repairs.
an occasional opinion may have got in.