Fire Escapes
“…one can indeed escape the fire, and still perish through the means of that escape. — Ocean Vuong, The weight of our living: on hope, fire escapes, and visible desperations
While walking the streets of Hartford mourning his Uncle who committed suicide, Ocean’s attention was drawn to the huge metals erected along buildings: fire escapes. What else do these structures, eminent even today, represent?
Fire escapes: a gateway to freedom, an escape route, a passage to life, new beginnings, hope — an emblem of danger and destruction, a constant reminder of the impermanence of life and the ever-lurking fear of death and endings. An ensign of disaster — a bridge between living and dying. Vulnerability and safety. Escaping and being trapped. A symbolism of fear. A picturesque of redemption. The Plan A in times of crisis (and sometimes a crisis in itself). An antithesis.
Humans can be fire escapes too. They can mean all these same things to us and serve similar purposes — not just a grotesque architecture attached to buildings. Humans can be elevations and demotions, ushering in light and darkness from different angles. They can be a refuge and a raging storm; that one body. Maybe that’s why the line between love and pain is becoming blurred because of the calm and wreck a person can cause you. Maybe that’s why even in moments of fulfillment you’re subconsciously, evidently…
