Home and Away

before producing layover, on the shore at full speed,
i went back to Chongqing, China this summer,
my birthplace and a city like an old friend.

Chongqing is a city of two rivers
and a few dozen bridges
muddy waters carry boats, cargo and centuries of strife
white thick mists creep across green mountains and gray highrises
hiding other worlds that disappear when the sun bakes the earth.

when i was in Chongqing, i dreamed of Los Angeles
i dreamed of my little apartment in Ktown,
my little balcony, Wilshire and Western, the sunset on the 10
and when i'm in Los Angeles
i dream of Vancouver who raised me
my old room with the blue corduroy curtains,
the crisp light, mountainview cemetery and cedar forests.

layover, on the shore - to me is about this idea of home, about the characters' relationship to home. and undeniably, it's about chris' relationship to Hawai'i. i don't know, but i imagine it's a place that is buried deep inside. as chris changes and grows, Hawai'i is changing and growing too - not just as an island on earth, but inside of him too. as a producer on layover, i feel i am a part of this intimate relationship, a relationship that struggles to heal an odd chasm: our bodies are always in the present but our mind almost never is.

Yu