An employee

is moving about the wooden furniture

in the open space restaurant

behind me

inside the huge Sunderby Hospital

I imagine the irregular wooden noises,

the bangs and the screeches,

as an indeterminate performance

of an imagined piece

- One for One + -

by John Cage

The fans and the ventilation,

the cooling system for the fridges

and the wheezing, belching & gurgling

of the cappuccino machines

provide a misty hypnotism

to my mind,

tickling up my neck,

my eyes squinting

Two employees in the cafeteria

talk with each other

I imagine them

following a textual score

Many people come charging

through the hospital entrance and hallway,

walking briskly past,

as if members

of a modern, Pinocchio avantgarde dance company

A car alarm goes off

outside,

keeping on keeping on wailing

as part of the 8 AM 23rd March 2023 score

in the Sunderby Hospital reception hall

The morning sunlight is filtered

and channeled

through the revolving doors

Yet a restaurant machine kicks in

at a lower pitch

The car alarm keeps wailing

through the score

- when it suddenly stops!

A male voice

with a heavy northern accent,

spills a few rare words

Nobody can tell when the show stops,

or indeed when it started,

ot if any of these situations have occurred,

or ever will

I take part in this world;

show up at different places,

offer up my name,

or at least the one I've been given

I take part in rituals;

pay / receive / leave / hug trees /

walk on the water