You Must Navigate Home to Restart

I thought someone was yelling “God bless! God bless!” down by Main & Hastings. Closer examination revealed they were saying “Columbus! Columbus!” to a pigeon. I would take blessing pigeons over naming them after colonizers any day. It’s twilight and people are casual, convenience stores are full of light. Pipes unravel plumes of blue.

A few blocks down the ports are full. The Disney cruises have arrived, accented with Australians and visiting Texans. In the dying light, neon city workers are marked with Xs, vests that protect them from potential hazard; these constructions of people. One worker picks up a manhole cover, peering into the pupil of the road.

I’m here to ask for a restart. I put my faith in the changeable. I have rolled through neon lights, historical sites. So many weird mash-ups of consumerism and conservation. I keep on waiting to make a connection. There are superior and inferior components to life. If your water catches fire, turn off the tap. I always lather myself in repeating.







Sasha Torchinsky is a queer Jewish writer & artist born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. on the unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Sasha is inspired by James Baldwin, reality television, and freaks everywhere.

See more of of Sasha's work in 8.3