The Public Intellectual’s Honeymoon

A story about a man in front of a desk.

I watch the light until the light turns off. When the light turns off I take out the light bulb and shatter it against the side of the desk. Then I screw in a new one and wait for it to turn on. I wait for the light to come back. I wait for this for hours, listening to the sound of my breath.

When the light comes back, the maid comes in and sweeps up the glass from the old bulb. She sweeps it all in a dustpan and then kneels on the floor next to the chair and shows me the new batch of photographs.