Diary: Sumana Roy, ”Exhaust Pipe“

Sleeping Farmer, Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

At night I lie in bed thinking of where exactly it might be. It’s like a rat in the house. It stirs and makes a noise from time to time, particularly in the dark; its presence is everywhere, in the chewed and shredded bits of paper and food, clothes and shoes. In the morning we wonder where the rat might have come from, and where exactly it is now, so that we can chase it away. I’m talking of exhaustion—my body is that house.