the world is formed in the image of spaztek. with each mask it dies and is born again. with new borders. every border is a figment of a mask. every machine is a reinvention of the world. but billie holiday is not a machine or a world or a mask or a tear. she lives in the invisible waves that connect us. her mask is the air shedding its leaves. her border is the flower clinging to its petals. if spaztek could return the leaves to the air, or dissect the petals, maybe he could find her. maybe he could build a world out of all the invisible waves, a voice out of masks. but all spaztek knows is he’s lost and not gonna give up. and devil girl’s gone.

written in response to a cruz ortiz exhibit at fl!ght gallery.