qarrtsiluni

PAT: How easily a sight of anything distracts a thought of a lover. I would, if I could, shut down the world.

FRANKIE: Don’t talk crazy talk. You would shut down the generators that make the electricity that sends the lift to my flat? You would shut down the factories that make the sheets on which we lie? You would break the pipes that bring us water for us to brew tea and brush our teeth? The whole world is in a conspiracy to support our love.

by Tammy Ho Lai-ming and Reid Mitchell

Download the MP3 (reading by Reid)

Process notes

Tammy writes:
Reid and I have been writing together for about three years now. We write what could be called “literary dialogues,” although someone has commented that what we write are really “juxtaposed monologues” because the characters are often engaged in displaced conversations with themselves. We have also tried writing poems together and found the Villanelle works rather well. Since we live in two places, we write via the internet. Maybe one day we can write together for a longer period, sitting face-to-face.

“Debating Love” is a brief exchange which shows two people’s collaborative effort to delude each other: Pat thinks the world is an obstacle to love, Frankie thinks the world is a confidant of love.