UM(1) Creative Writing Club (Activity)

Min Aung Swe

Adrift in a light catnap or wide awake?  A smooth zephyr runs through his sun-worn skin; his sweat glistening on every single creased wrinkle; the man faces a quiet gray sky. Why is he alone, with just a dog to keep him company? Is everyone he cared about gone? Or did he have no one to begin with?

This is an Ed Hopper painting. Solitude is the quintessential part of Hopper's per se 'madness.' An urban loneliness, maybe even a slight sense of despair – or just serenity. What are we seeing here? Reflections of ourselves, our dreams, and worries? Or somebody we can never hope to understand or come close to? Are these two things, in the end, the same? We might never know.

A day's work is done, I must admit, I envy the man. A rake in hand, sitting cross-legged on the porch, he doesn't have anything to worry about now. Does it make you long for something similar? Perhaps the endless routine will finally take its toll on you, perhaps not.

I've always dreamt of living in the mountains. Somewhere like Hpa An. Maybe keep a journal, or even a typewriter, who knows. Won't the loneliness affect me? Probably. I think, like all things I'm uncomfortable with, I'll shrug it off after a solid year or so.  What will I write about? How will I write? We might never know.

Now, back to the painting. How can you relate to something so unrelatable? Something so low-fidelity, an incomplete emotion. Yet, there is no clear line between the serenity and the eerie unknown. Perhaps something dark and twisted lies inside the forest with its almost blackened evergreens. Maybe something lurks in the tall stalks of grain. Again, we might never know.

Being pretentious won't get you far. Try. Look deep into that painting, don't move your eyes. Stare at it – until you finally know what's bugging you. Congratulations, now you see what I see.