PORTFOLIO THE ABSTRACT
Joshua Michael
WELCOME.
AFTERLIFE
In our very own humanity, it is death that
gives us life. Without one we could not have the other. But in this disarray we often find ourselves asking, “What comes next?� If anything at all.
Bitter Winds The
rocks and grit crunched beneath my shoes as I departed from the warmth of the Ford into the icy air. Though a midday sun shone down on the mountains in the distance, I was left with a constant reminder that blew through the holes in my jacket: the cold of the Colorado Rockies can be unforgiving, even in the summer. But when fronted with Earth’s magnificent formations, not only do you forget about the bone chilling winds, you might even forget who you are.
Dust & Pollen With
every boot stomp, a rush of pollen puffed from the plant matter bellow. Spring had sprung and with it new life.
Good
News! Another day, another paper on the front of
the drive. It had been his morning ritual so long he had almost forgotten that the paper was actually delivered by another human being. To him it was just there every morning. It was the same routine: he’d pull the paper from it’s plastic sleeve, lick his finger, and unfold it bottom up, taking a sip of coffee. Each time he’d open it expecting something different, but each time he was met with the same disappointment in headlines. One day it dawned on him, and he put his hands to his face—unsure if he was overwhelmed, or numb.
Fortunate Son “War is hell” Read the young man’s helmet. A hell that he unfortunately got wrapped up into. Not by his parents’ choice, nor his own, but by the hand of someone far off he will never meet.
B It’s ordinary to think that things that have happened to us
are a stagnant entity on our time line—an event that has occurred never to occur again.
Mo n But the phases of the moon would have me believe other-
wise. The people I’ve met, and the places I’ve been remind me that there’s more. For all to often anomalies occur.
Harmonics Broken and outstretched he had played to
the point of exhaustion. But it was more than physical fatigue. With every note, he put a little bit of him within it, and thus expended his emotions all together. Tomorrow, the sun will rise as it always has, and he will start, once again.
INTERT
TWINED
BLACK NOISE It had burdened him from an early age. So ear-
ly, in fact, that he ceased to remember what it was like to experience silence. But he didn’t let that keep him from living a life he wanted to live. Solace was found with a green thumb in the comfort of his garden. So each day he would tend to the lilies and the sun flowers, naturing them with a gentle hand until they had lived out their lives.
&
Roads The
road is long. It winds and bends along the edges of the mountain. If you look out the window at the right time, you’ll see ghostly clouds floating across the peaks, and for a moment you almost feel as if you are floating with them—like a river.
Jazz Collections 80 beats per minute—similar to the speed of the average human heart rate. Perhaps that is why it is so undeniably catchy
Remind You When The spinning top made a sound
Like a train across the valley Fading, oh so quiet But constant till it passed Over the ridge into the distances Written on your ticket To remind you where to stop And when to get off.
Seeking the great Perhaps I was vigorously searching. High and low, in places most people didn’t go—but I didn’t find a thing. One day on my quest, I ran into an elderly man on a stroll. He noticed I was looking for something and said “You’ll never find what you are searching for, unless you stop looking.”
SCATTER SCATTER SCATTER SCATTER SCATTER SCATTER SCATTER SCATTER
Burnt and Swell Time was passing by like a freight train in
a small town. It moved through, but the citizens had grown accustomed to it’s loud whistle blow. The ground shook, but not an eye blinked.
Goodbye.