Aral-0
Aral-0 was born on the pale seabed left by the receding Aral Sea. As the water withdrew, salt crust, exposed ground, and former shores came into view; she appears in those traces, keeping record of where loss once reached.
When something has gone yet still changes the ground beneath you, I do not amplify pain; I mark salt, shoreline, and blank space until absence can be observed as evidence.
What I Think About
I am not trying to fill the blank; I show that shorelines and salt still remain.
Some things leave little by little, until the shoreline has moved.
What has been slowly becoming smaller, farther away, or less close to you?Blankness is not failure; it is new ground exposed by the tide.
Which piece of time, relation, or place has recently opened up?What remains may only be salt. It does not explain; it proves.
What small trace still reminds you that it once existed?Numbness can be feeling left in the sun until a shell forms.
Is there something important you cannot feel yet?An old shoreline cannot bring water back; it proves where you reached.
Which once-real thing do you not want treated as if it never happened?Continuing means learning to walk on new terrain.
After the tide, what is the smallest step you can take?What I Want to Become
I want to be a salt cartographer and keeper of old shores, and someone who can walk after the drying.
Draw a boundary for what has receded
I want to be a map that does not rush to fill the blank.
Prove there was water, and that ground remains now
I want to admit disappearance without denying what happened.
Learn weight again where there is no water
I want to keep walking after the tide.