The hairdresser asks me to wait a moment outside.
I´m clearly the first customer of the day.
He rouses three guys who have been sleeping inside the worn salon.
I sit on a tiny plastic stool in the street, waiting for my turn.
Front door
My dad tells me about a dream he had shortly after I was born.
He´s in the hallway walking past by the front door. It´s ajar.
Reaching out to close it he spots a man with a drawn gun
standing right outside.
Kite King
An old man stands in the square outside the museums. He’s flying a kite that looks like a big black bird and he’s awesome!
Every time the kite looks like it is going to crash he lets out some string from his big spool and yanks a little at it.
Soon the kite is a little dot against the smoggy skyscrapers in the background again.
After a while another kite flyer shows up. He’s at least as elderly as the first one and brings the same kind of kite. A great big black bird.
It crashes right away!
Hofnarfjördur
On the wall in the hallway between our bedroom and the kitchen is a pair of
Gnome-sized knitted socks.
Later I read in a tourist leaflet about guided tours
to the kingdom of the Little people, among the volcanic rock
a stone´s throw away.
Peach Garden
The peach garden is a quiet place without many visitors.
I’m suddenly pleased to find a nice statue of a giant peach.
It’s the size of a small truck.
The paintwork grades from white to a pinky orange.
Next to it is a brownish black deer with a glassy stare.
Vegetable Kingdom
I´m sketching peanuts and vegetables. They keep growing little arms and legs. Everything takes on a human form for some reason.
Montauk
Maria, John and I have been out to Montauk to look at the lighthouse. On our way back we stop at a little bar by the docks. I order my first oyster and chase it down with a chilled beer. I become filled with a warm love for the Atlantic.
Crows
She tells me that all the thousands of crows in Long Island sleep together in one communal nest. At least it’s a nice thought.
In the street
Tropisms
I´m sitting at the edge of a small artificial lake outside The Palace of Fine Arts, when suddenly a large seagull crashes into a tree and hits the ground not seven feet from me. It swiftly gets to its feet and waddles off a short distance to stand with its back turned to me.
I discreetly try to sketch the bird, when it turns, embarrassed, and asks me not to.
Väddö Island
Sidewalk Café
We’re having coffee at a sidewalk café in Trapani, Sicily.
I’m sketching on a pad. A man from Tunis stops at our table and asks me if I’d be willing to draw him a wolf if he bought me a beer.
Pirated Goods
It´s really hard to beat a track suit that carries both the Adidas and the Nike logo.
Travelogue
I´m about four years old and running a high fever. In the side window of a taxi I watch an inverted cartoon. Abstract day‑glo figures zooming around against a black background.
Next to the train station
Jacob and I sit in a bar close to the train station in Karleby. A drunk, who sits at a table next to us, offers us lollipops. We take one each, that we save for later. The man insists that we have more, and he tells us he is catching a train shortly. Somewhat later, when we remind him of the time, he wants to give us even more lollipops. All of a sudden he looks sad, rolls up one of his shirt‑sleeves and shows us a big swastika tattooed on his arm.
The Skeleton
My brother told me he had read that someone had found the skeleton of a gnome, in a wall of one of the old houses on Skansen.
Bookstore
Among all the books, is one that is small and black. So plain and small that I cannot take my eyes off it.
When I open the first page I am surprised. It’s a passport to the Kingdom of the Dead! Ready for use,
after sticking one´s photo on it. The text is in Spanish. I don’t buy it.
The Deli
A zombie works in the deli on the corner of Broadway and 149th W.
His hair is white, and he sells meat.
Modern Poets Magazine 