burning aesthetically pleasing six story tall styrofoam sculptures
stopping traffic, singing stories, solving riddles through spectacle.
burning the: designing, carving, paper mache, sanding, painting,
glossing, assembling. soon to be celebrating nonsense

fire-hydrant heat seeker soaking sinking spectators swimming the
warm streets and sidewalks, surfing waves far too intense to soak in
saving sleep for some other day, holding flames in hands. steady
setting all six of our senses on fire, learning significant life lessons




Sometimes, summer in spain is a little like

taking the bus to the nearest town
spending the night in strangers empty apartment
going through family pictures on walls
making up stories about what their lives are like

its like trying not leave any evidence
leaving the sheets over the furniture
memorizing how the kitchen cups were placed
trying not to make noise in the hallways

its like going to a bar with architecture students you
don't know, like falling asleep at 6 in the morning
squeezing into a bed that probably hosts marriage sex
like cleaning obsessively 4 hours later

like never meeting the people that live there
and knowing that you never will


Leslie Valencia