tallava forever

a mashup from multiple live tallava performances:

songs that men sing about nightingales

3.10.2010

This morning scientists reported that last week's earthquake had moved the city of Concepcion 10 feet to the west. Nearby mountains had moved in the same direction, though less far. The earth's axis shifted three inches, and our days were hereafter shortened by one millionth of a second. I fried eggs and listened to the news.

By early afternoon it had started to snow. Tiny birds jumped from branch to branch, upset by the weather. I drove to the airport. The snowfall thickened. The flakes were heavy, wide and wet. Sludge built up on the side of the road, and I felt the wheels slip as the car changed lanes.

In the parking lot I sat in the car and smoked a cigarette. I could hear airplanes taking off, but they could not be seen through the solid sheet of clouds. A heavy wind rocked the car like a boat.

At home I chopped cabbage and listened to the news. It hadn't been a heavy wind rocking the car after all. The earthquake had sent people streaming out of office buildings in Pristina. Albanian news sources reported that the epicenter of the quake was Istog, a predominately Albanian town. Serbian news reported that the epicenter was Zubin Potok, an overwhelmingly Serbian town. That night the sun went down one millionth of a second sooner than usual.

scenes from the ride home

from the airport: just two minutes of driving...