Ulf to Uli (A Voicemail)

"Hi, uh, I." (long silent pause)

"I, I wish I could love you the same way. Things would be so much better, so much less complicated that way. I'm just as guilty of cheating as she is, I suppose. Though you and I never even. .kissed, I encouraged you to make the advance. I set my knee close enough to yours for you to 'accidentally' brush against me. I lingered too long in our goodbye embraces. I gave you opportunities, but you shied from every one. But I know that you love me-it's in your eyes. I know how you feel. I am on both sides of that relationship. Except yours and mine is more honest. She lies and tells me she loves me; I have never promised you that. I suppose I used you. I fed off your desire for me. And you thrived in the illusion of what really wasn't. We are so alike. Even our names-just one letter off. 'Ulf 'and 'Uli'. Just 'i' and 'f'. Join them together and you get 'if'-a possibility that doesn't really exist. I am finally leaving her. No more lies, to myself or to you. I will be alone. Alone and true. I just wanted you to know. I just wanted to say."

(silence)

(dial tone)

text by a.m.
photo by Sibyll Kalff

links:

http://artdirective.org/?p=17
http://artdirective.org/?page_id=2