I remember walking unsteadily along the street; the rain was pouring down and the cobbles were slippery with the wet. It was that time between daylight and dusk; when everything seems somewhat in-between. I turned into the alleyway, curiously searching for nothing and somehow finding what I was looking for.
Slipping through the Butterslip
I walked slowly along the alleyway, the tips of my fingers slid against the grainy surface of the concrete walls as the cold bit into the grooves in my face and through the gap in my collar. The rain came down slow and steady, small drops that went individually unnoticed but drenched me nonetheless.
In the search of shelter, I turned right into the alleyway. I stopped for just a second, heading nowhere and not at all in a hurry. I watched as people slowed down from runs for a momentary respite as they walked up the stairs and went back into the rain, on their way to wherever it is they were off to.
I just watched, and I waited.
It is only after a few minutes of contemplation, the odd smile and even one hello that I really began to wonder, just ow many people had come here before me? looking for shelter, meeting a loved one, or simply passing through? If I reached out, could I feel the essence of a person long gone, reach back out to me and say, without saying... "hello".
NOTE
I captured this image on a journey in Kilkenny. I had forgotten about it until I was flicking through some old photographs last night; while it is not by any means the best photograph I have ever taken, there is something about the emotions that it brought out in me, that singled it out for attention today.