P. Ferguson image, August 2024.
The Written and Spoken Word
And as we walk…our words become golden. Strung together in all manner of combination, words, their resonance gathers the emotion of an event. Together with an image that speaks a thousand words…what also of the few words that eclipse the obvious and provide the greatest impact to our being?
I watch for and listen for words, they are everywhere. Single and multiple words upon a wall, from the angled sticker on passing lamp posts, to graffiti abstractions on the wall, prose along the beachside…from a blatant voice in a corner…or a dynamic whisper…tone is everything. Wait for them, the words will appear, they will themselves to be heard.
I enjoy the chance to walk towards the cursive to read them. Or the chance to record the spoken voice heard…(or what have you) as I hurriedly race through my multiple pockets in search of paper and pencil in order that I might remember (all those moments). Perhaps these happenstance words I gather may become useful, perhaps they will bond with me to capture Orion’s (the hunter’s) day from the Tyndall Blue?
Someone has spent time to connect your person with this/that/their/my place…isn’t this how it can be? Not wanton words but those left on this world in common places…slow down…wherever you are headed there is always time. Plan your destinations – include the intermittent experiences of the unexpected. After all these micro-pleasures will allow us to enjoy our day (and night)…we’ve seen things.
These words today started days before as remembrances of Orion, Tyndall Blue and some former words its better when it rains. Together and connected with 42 words voiced by Rutger Hauer’s character Roy Batty words make a difference. Their connection one to the other, my experience to them and to my journeys create the spark of keystrokes. Its this day I enjoy when all comes together. Words and images racing to the imagination…
David Peoples’ original Blade Runner (1982) draft and final script for Batty’s final words were to read…
People’s Draft
I’ve known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I’ve been Offworld and back… frontiers! I’ve stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching stars fight on the shoulder of Orion… I’ve felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I’ve seen it, felt it…!
People’s Final Script
I’ve seen things… seen things you little people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium… I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments… they’ll be gone.
Hauer’s 42 Words
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.