Image by Christine Renney
I step beneath the bridge and begin to slow down and, at around the mid-way point, I grind to a halt. I look up at the roof and suddenly I have shelter. The wall to my left is covered with layers of graffiti and I cross and lean against it.
I can hear the traffic thundering along the carriageway above. It is almost constant up there but, concentrating, I can hear the little gaps, the spaces in between each vehicle.
Down here the cars and the trucks are far less frequent. The pauses are varied and unpredictable and much more difficult to fill. Fumbling I remove my tie and, crouching down, hold it with both hands. I remember reading somewhere how, in Romania under Ceausescu, cars with odd numbers on their registration plates were only allowed on the roads on ‘odd number’ days. I realise that I have forgotten today’s date and I don’t know if this is an odd number day.
I can’t read the plates on the vehicles flashing past me so fast. Anyhow it would be a pointless exercise. I am not in Romania and even if I were, Ceausescu’s reign of terror ended long ago.
I let the tie slip from my hands and stare down at it coiled between my muddy shoes.
hijacked amygdala 
It’s difficult, to find that shelter that gives you that sense of safety as you needed to, and, we usually can’t find a place we rightfully belonged in, until we know who we are, where we come from…
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Thank you for such an insightful comment.
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Reblogged this on The Brokedown Pamphlet and commented:
Christine and I have a new post o n Hijacked Amygdala.
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Mark, I want to transpose your words into dance or film or music…and Christine, your photo speaks ancient mysteries…
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Thank you John.
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Thanks for the shout out.
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gorgeous, I usually love moments like this. Unplanned moments / constraints in places where you would never stop. You take time, look from a different perspective on the things have different thoughts than usual. The even / odd number plates there was in Sao Paulo also, when I lived there. Useful if you do not see anything in the city! Favelas were also such interessting places, where i sometimes stoped ( but on purpose)…but of course this is just curiosity and I knew always that I can leave whenever I want ( or the rain stops)…
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Thank you so much.
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