STILL FAR AWAY FROM PARADISE

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Once tuberculosis was referred to as a dry-air disease or simply the romantic disease that afflicted the greatest artistic souls. Today, nothing dries the skin like a air conditioning in an office in a high-rise building scraping the sky. Or the confined spaces of a shopping mall, populated with colorful dreams. Or brand new car on a never-ending road to work. So, are we talking about searching for a remedy and a therapy, or maybe trying to break free from the death of the soul, which decays progressively, like the lungs of a consumptive?  

Is the unique climate of Góry Suche (pol. Dry Mountains) a destination itself or is it only a stop on the way to somewhere else, a more distant port of call?

 

There’s the clean, fresh air of the local microclimate. The sound of crickets keep the starry sky company. Herbs from the backyard garden drying over the fireplace. And those endless repairs of the local road that keeps getting destroyed by sudden downpours. Lifelong friendships with kindred spirits and even stronger dramas. Lack of peers in the neighborhood for a growing-up son and even more acute lack of work that reflects in real changes in the bank account.

 

Even if you take a gulp of air, you still might end up panting for breath.

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Text: Beata Bartecka