Cosmic Domestic
Five times a day, the train rumbles through.
It covers all the sounds of your life,
as if, for a few seconds, you do not exist:
your inhales and exhales, the ticking clock,
ice cubes cracking in your water glass,
strawberry seeds scraping against your teeth,
your second cup of coffee brewing.
All erased. Still, the sun caresses
your succulents, warms the green carpet
you chose for the living room.
The 5:34 train passes by.
You are released back
into your life.
Maria Schiza, 2025
Maria Schiza is a writer and translator from Thessaloniki, Greece who researches the possibilities of encounter found through ekphrastic poetry. Ekphrasis is a literary description of a work of art. This poem is Maria’s response to my film Cosmic Domestic. I love the way it draws a new interpretation from the film’s rhythms and repetitions, and addresses sound as an indicator of life but also as a force for its potential erasure. You can find out more about Maria’s research here.
Maria will be writing about my sound composition ‘Deep Space Call and Response’ for the upcoming group show Trading Zone 2025 at Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh. The show opens 15 March 2025 (Preview Friday 14th March).
Still from Cosmic Domestic, 2020