Prudence in Hell 018

Exiles

Our exiles are distinguished /
More important, they’re not dead…
–Tim Rice, Evita

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The striking part of the experience is
it has become so rare as to be leached 
of glamour. Nobody knows what 
you are, even if you are somebody. 
They’ve never seen anything like you before. 

Half a century ago, we would have been
collector’s items; the delectation of the party circuit, treasured for our savoir vivre and survivorship. They do not make them like us anymore. 

But the world has since become a silo 
of bacterial cultures, and the gut flora
of history sifts by, well-dressed, impeccably composed, invisible as individual krill. 

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Still from Azor, Andreas Fontana, 2021.