chairs

in sweden i found a chair
it said “en stol att kliva på”, a chair to stand on
it was mona’s chair but mona wasn’t there anymore
i stood on it now and then and invited other people to stand on it
to change their perspective

when i left sweden i took the chair
i travelled slowly by train through denmark, germany and the netherlands
i stood on the chair on railway platforms and city squares
i sat on it when all the seats in the train were taken
at night, sleeping on a train bench, moving through the night, i rested my feet and my golden shoes on it
i talked to people who asked me what was so special about the chair
nothing really but everything at the same time
the chair made us meet and talk
i thought about bringing the chair to barcelona
i enquired at a bus company if i could take it with me
but they never got back at me
and the chair also fitted in amsterdam
when i arrived in my small garden in the middle of the bustling city i sat on it and left it there

in barcelona i rented a room in the apartment of a friend
a big room with a double bed, a cupboard, a mirror and two bedsite tables
a small balcony looking out over the narrow street i live in here
there was no chair to sit on the balcony
on my first evening i went to a concert in a small club in gracia where they host jazz and improvised music events
when i arrived at the door two people i recognised had just arrived but i couldn’t place them straight away
then i remembered a residency in portugal in a small mountain village two years ago where i had spent time with patxi and his partner adi, where i had built an installation in a corn shed in a village with 53 inhabitants and 3.000 goats with an artist from the US, mary rothlisberger and where patxi developed a beautiful musical performance with water
patxi and adi had been living here for a year now, in this city where it seems to be so easy to make new friends and meet old ones
the same night i met two argentinian musicians from amsterdam. i had never met them before but they knew all of my amsterdam musician friends

on my way home after midnight, walking, i was accompanied by a full moon
it was still warm, the streets were filled with people
next to a big garbage container I found three ugly garden chairs
two of them were broken, one seemed to be ok so I took it
thinking it would do for now and I could replace it at some point by a nicer chair
not knowing there would be no need to replace it
I placed it on my balcony and the next morning I sat on it
it is a chair to sit on
a chair from which I can feel the sea breeze and hear the sounds of the city
from where I can see the people walking by and think about life, about the big things and the small things

a chair to love

the next evening, coming back to the apartment, another chair was waiting for me
a friend’s friend had found it and brought it for me
one leg is shorter than the others but she fixed it beautifully
now i’ve got three chairs to love