once pristine . texts . dreams

all the places are parts of my life and all the people are parts of my self . i am sitting, as though at the edge of a swimming pool, with my legs dangling over the edge, next to a woman : but instead of water in the pool it is rather a large field on which children are playing, my son and his friends are among them and the woman is one of their teachers : the principal of the school is across the field sitting at a desk in a closed office with a glass wall : we are talking about a boy who is a friend of my son, and she whispers, so that nobody can hear, that this boy is not what he seems, he is a bad boy masquerading as good : suddenly the principal darts from his office across the field and sternly reprimands us for gossiping about the student, you are professionals, he says, i won’t tolerate your gossiping about any student : we are shocked that he could have heard us whispering from across the field and through the glass walls of his office