The big red fireball on the sky slowly discends
It falls gradually below the totems of progression
Scyscrappers and modern men without faces
While I am robotically driving, I take a quick turn and suddenly awake!

A slender figure behind the haze seems to prostitute by the sidewalk
Unintentionally, I drive slower and we locked eyes
She resembles subtly something familiar
And then I realise this is how ancient tradegies usually begin

I get an uncontrollable craving to smoke
And fingering my pocket, I acknowldge I have just three cigarettes left
What is freedom I think - is it the certainty that everything ends?
Is it following the commands of necessity without anxiety?

On an impulse, I decide to stop for a drink at the next bar
It is one of these establishments between a cafeteria and a night club
In the middle of a busy road junction
There is noise and clouds of hydrocarbon steaming from the asphalt

As I plug the keys out of the ignition, killing the engine, I get a phone call
It is my brother, asking for a favour regarding a cat and a fern
What is love I think - is it the search for belonging?
Is it the sharing of the burden of the minor inconveniences in life?

I walk casually inside, as a photoelectric cell catches my figure and the doors open automatically
I notice a man, resembling an old western film character
He has placed a smartphone, two cigarette packs and a Volvo truck pair of keys on the table
He nods to acknowledge my presence, then returns his head exactly to its original position

There is a group of teenager boys on the left dressed all in black
Hooked to a TV screen showing second-grade soccer
What is perception I think - Is it the sensory input of objective data?
Is it the procedural generation of context like in open-world video games?

The group of friends sits in silence, interrupted by ten minute slots of loud, vulgar talking
A commentator describes with passion the every movement of the ball
I lay back and observe passively, actively trying to not get consumed by the screen
What is awkwardness I think? Is it an HR lady on a corporate event laughing hysterically at an IT guy's stupid sweater?

I drink the last of my drink with a rapid choreographed movement of my head and right hand
I stand up and nervously get out, with the doors opening automatically and delaying my exit
I get lonely and search an endless list of contacts on my phone for someone to call but freeze
What is absence I think - is it an empty fish bowl forgotten upon a shelf in your childhood bedroom?

I am driving robotically with an empty head
Observing cars pass beyond me at high speeds
Stuck at a red light somewhere in town
I get a half-constructed melody playing in my head

And whisperingly start singing...

You can stand all night at a red light anywhere in town
Hailing Maries left and right but none of them slow down
I've seen the best of men go past, I don't wanna be the last
Gimme something fast