Late saturday night, the sky is black and I'm wandering in the old part of town,
low houses with no shops and mostly dark windows, people sleeping behind.
I didn't have a particular goal, but something would turn up. Perhaps around next corner, when the street twisted itself again? Indeed,
at a distance I could now spot several brightly lit windows, an open place. As I moved closer I could also hear music and laughter.
Was it a café, restaurant, tavern or what? Looked like a place that offered it all. Plenty of people already, but still room enough for more...
So I entered, and I had to conclude, that indeed this place seemed to offer everything. Why go anywhere else? Then
I suddenly noticed that this place was actually twice as large: there was a stairway in a corner leading to a higher level.
What could another floor offer, that the ground level didn't? I was curious, so eventually I decided to take a look...
The next level was totally different: quiet but serene and totally dark. But not empty, I saw, when my eyes had adjusted.
There was no furniture at all, but every window was wide open, and the lights from the city dimly illuminated the room.
There were a few other visitors too, but they were all looking out, silently. So, eventually I too found a window and looked at...
a city, that I didn't recognize at once, yet I had this strange feeling I nevertheless knew it well. But the name kept eluding me.
I noticed one of the other visitors standing quite close, apparently contemplating the same view as me. I couldn't see who he was,
because everyone here only looked like a dark silhouette. "I wonder, what's the name of this city..?" I asked, without turning my head.
Oops! I shouldn't have said that. "How dare you ask..." he shouted angrily. But somehow I also sensed an undertone of disappointment;
something like: How could I be so dumb? I really ought to know! The problem was, that I didn't, at least not at a conscious level...
"How dare you ask the name of a God?!" he shouted. What the hell is this, I thought. And turned my head to see who he was. Too late.
He had now dropped the mask, the body was still a dark silhouette, but the face exploded. As light. Cascades of blinding light,
as if someone just turned on a megawatt lightbulb. I tried, I really tried to look but it was impossible: much too much light...
I still don't know who the 'lightman' was. Magritte once painted something that reminds me of the dream, but only partially.
And Magritte probably had his own ghosts to deal with. Plus his titles are deliberately misleading. So I'm still clueless.
All I really know is this. My subconsciousnes knows the name of the city, I still don't although I suspect.
And the 'lightman' is still out there. Or should I say, in here..?
I still hope we'll meet again. One night of light...
Mads Dam, 2011