---
title: Man
genre: prose

id: man
toc: "Man"

ekphrastic:
    image: tbedemugshot.jpg
    title: This man refused to open his eyes
    link: 'http://collection.hht.net.au/firsthhtpictures/fullRecordPicture.jsp?recnoListAttr=recnoList&recno=31230'

project:
    title: "Buildings out of air: Paul in the Woods"
    class: paul
    order: 22
    next:
    - title: Snow
      link: snow
    - title: Notes
      link: notes
    prev:
    - title: Cereal
      link: cereal
    - title: Leg
      link: leg
...

_THIS MAN REFUSED TO OPEN HIS EYES_

Paul read this on an old mugshot in the library.
He had taken the [bus][] into town to check out a few books on woodworking and got distracted by the True Crime section.
He found this mugshot in a book titled _Crooks like Us_ that was published in Sydney.
He liked how cities were named after women, or how women were named after cities, whichever was true.

The man in the picture's eyes were tightly shut, as though he'd just come into the brightness of day after being dark inside for a long time.
His head was tilted up and slightly to the right.
He was wearing a short light tie with hash marks, and a pinstripe suit.
Paul wished the [photograph][] was in color.
He was standing in front of a plain brown wall covered in fabric.

The man's eyes were not so tightly shut as Paul first thought.
His eyebrows lifted away from the eyes, giving the man a bemused look.
His mouth was slightly opened in what seemed to Paul like a grin.
This was accentuated by the man's ears, which were large.
Paul wasn't sure why the ears made the man look happier.
He wondered what crime he had committed.

Above the man's head was written [_T. BEDE.22.11.28 / 203 A_.][emilia]
_THIS MAN REFUSED TO OPEN HIS EYES_ was written over his suit, directly below his ribcage.

[emilia]: http://emiliaphillips.com/books/signaletics/
[bus]: boy_bus.html
[photograph]: about-the-author.html