Butterflies

 

12.35am Satellites and drones pass over Canberra skies, most visible at night.

The lower altitude flyers are amateurs cruising suburbs and arteries. I saw one swoosh past, in flames. 

A lithium battery on fire or a tiny space craft crashing in inner North? 

…

Bladerunner (1982) is set in a dystopian future Los Angeles in 2019. Polluted and overcrowded, with towers of one bedroom units above and the wretched sliding around ground level in the dripping filth below. Rick (Harrison Ford) is hunting down humanoids; the 'replicants' are resisting 4 year lifespans.

…

For the first time, people I love and know, we hesitated – was it safe to attend any Australia Day events this year? 

As it happened, there were two incidents, both terrorism:

In Western Australia an explosive device set to detonate and capable of mass casualties failed to explode.

In New South Wales, most news bulletins chose not to screen what was actually said from a stage to the converted. The full video was available. What was said is flat out illegal as per current legislation around hate speech. It does not meet community standards.

 

Both alleged perpetrators were caught within an hour and both are in custody. 

…

On a spring night, sitting in the shadows, a red dot appeared over my heart.

The small light slowly began to circle. It went left, I dropped to the right.

Scoped? I lay there calculating the direction, angle, strength of light. Was it a gun?

I live in a good area in Australia. It could be. 

I decided it was a telescope, pointing down into my enclosed deck. Head shot.

What is the social contract? Performative or authentic, when the baseline is a shared commitment to not killing each other.

Is consent too closely bound to pity, in the absence of understanding?

Loneliness and isolation; social researchers are finding is ailing many in their small-footprint one bedroom units. Windows are bigger, natural light is worshipped. 

People seeing each other up close, curiosity and contempt is as easy as the other.

Benign, a harmless special interest? Or are they collecting butterflies to pin?

Will they deep fake my head onto a fleshjack, and fail to understand most people don’t think that is funny?

At the most fundamental level I do not understand, what is it like to fuck when there are no stakes, no war, no righteous anger? I am excluding steroids, ecstasy and cocaine.

In 2026, I say I’ve been scoped on my deck at night, it’s taken seriously. My renovations now include enclosures with bullet proof glass. Futureproofing, I call it.