Time is not so innocuous or inconspicuous as it boasts. This crafty chrono-criminal is accredited as possessing an uncanny ability to both creep along so slow that it lulls you to sleep, and to take flight so suddenly that it leaves you clueless as to where it's gone. The hands of Time may be a dexterous pair, but they leave tiny fingerprints on everything they touch: Dust. Dust, like bruises or scars, marks not the presence of a thing, but the former presence. Dust is the evidence that Time has acted on us and the things around us. It collects on our floors, behind our electronics, on the surface of the Moon, in the depths of the sea, and in the belly of our vacuum cleaners (one of the great devourers of our Time!) But to me, it's presence is the most telling in those places void of life. If dust is made up of particles of atmosphere, traces of soil, remains of dead skin, volcanic eruptions, pollution, textile fibers, animal hairs, and so on, then the massive compilation of it in a shed you've not entered for two years becomes much more telling. It's been tagged, as if Time is a part of some gang marking it's territory. But it's not so much the dust itself that interests me, it's the dust mites.
On the surface, the fact that the term “Mite” is an anagram of “Time” is intriguing to me, but only in relation to the mite's relationship with Time's chief crop, dust. The dust mite lives all over, and there are actually three species of this intriguing critter, all of which live off of dust. When I think about all the dust mites eating the remnants of Time, I think about the past, and how it would be impossible to go back, since the mites have devoured it. I can't go back to this or that mistake, because the mites have devoured it. I can't return to this or that opportunity, because the mites have devoured it. Mites, just like the dust they sustain themselves on, are agents of Time. It's difficult to put into words the strange connection I feel between mites and Time, but there's something oddly wonderful about several species thriving on our past.
woo, this piece really plays with the idea of time and makes me think of some form of life without time. I think theres so much to be said about time that you cant really put your finger on it. I love though how you took dust and connected it to time. Its brilliant and I love how well it worked. I was able to follow all the analogies and float from one specimen to another.
ReplyDeleteDeep thoughts, my friend. Could one not spend their entire existence staring in the mirror observing the effects of time on a human life? I think someone should sacrifice themselves to such an experiment and write their findings upon their deathbed. Your piece took me to a dark place, I apologize.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the title of this post I was eating the sandwich you made me desire from your sandwich post, and I thought "Oh, what a good time to be eating a sandwich." Wrong. Anyways I love how you point out the anagram with "mite" and "time." It's obvious that you've thought for awhile about dust in relation to the passing of time. I like that you seem to blame the dust mites for eating time and stopping you from revisiting the past.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a lot of the book "Einstein's Dream." You should check it out (if you already haven't.) It plays with the concept of time in a similar way.
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest: the concept of something "eating time" scares the shit out of me. It reminds me of Stephen King's "The Langoliers."
ReplyDeleteDust as a remnant of time, though, that's interesting. I've never thought about it like that before.