Small Worlds

[TIL #1] In the city, there is a multitude of parallel universes intensely preoccupied with their own internal affairs.

Welcome to the Tales of Ink and Light. This is a newsletter that I’m launching to send you short stories and poems told with words (the ink) and photographs (the light). I will also share the occasional thought on topics that matter (to me), as well as updates on my work. I’m sending these emails twice a month ; every other week, I will simply share a photograph I made.

I see the Tales of Ink and Light as a place of freedom, of imagination, of rebellion, of meaning-making. I hope that they will serve as a portal to the possibility of an escape, even if temporary, that they will offer an instant of beauty, a moment of peace — or a good laugh.

If you enjoy this email, it will mean the world to me if you simply share it with someone who will love it too.

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Small Worlds

In the city, I can see that there is a multitude of parallel universes. I can see that they are all small and that they are all intensely preoccupied with their own internal affairs. I also observe that, other than the occasional commercial exchange, there is usually little contact between the worlds.

I am one who always liked to cross the borders. So, yes, I could be your guide.

There are not many of us. Most people never see much of the other universes and they probably think that only a fool would consider sneaking across the frontiers.

You should know: when you make it to another small world, there is an inevitable moment of disorientation. You will have to wait for the vertigo to fade, or rather: you should expect that you might have to get used to the vertigo — for some travellers, it never really goes away. I advise you to dress for success, that is, wear clothes that make you unnoticeable in your world of destination, so that if you say not a word, they may believe that you belong there.

Why do I do it? I know why and I will tell you: I traverse because there is no deeper conversations than the ones you can have across the borders, if chance serves you.

We leave at dawn. Be prepared.

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If we haven’t met, my name’s Pierre François Docquir. I’m a writer and a photographer based in Lisbon, Portugal. Would you like to know why I made Lisboa my home?

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P.S.: The Tales of Ink and Light are free to read. If they work on you — that is, if these tales make you smile, dream or think — would you do me a huge favour and share them with the people around you who you think would love them too?