Cambridge by Moonlight

20.8.12 (Cambridge, UK) - Cambridge by Moonlight

Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote "Moonlight is sculpture; sunlight is painting," but as the twilight fades on Cambridge and the moonlight remains all but blocked by clouds, only artificial light is left to chisel out crevices along the banks of the Cam. I head toward the City Centre whistling Smells Like Teen Spirit as the sounds of spirited teens pierce the quiet of Christ's Pieces.

The Grand Arcade is lit like an electric tomb, it's stores bathed in neon electric luminescence. Walking through a mall at night, everyone is a window-shopper. Some lights still highlight merchandise.A girl and her two male companions stop to gaze at handbags. These few people walk, perhaps like me, without destination, and the linoleum floors mime us all with milky facades, the tall windows of the Grand Arcade look on us indifferently.    

Tourists have traded the Corn Exchange for late-night pub fare. There are sounds of firecrackers somewhere behind King's College or perhaps down on Queen's Road.

Some buildings show off old books, set away in their hermetically sealed rooms.

Time, furiously eaten.