a missing sense

Ken Lum, Death and Furniture (series), digital prints on archival paper, 2021. Courtesy of Royale Projects and Ken Lum.

[ID: Scan of a page of text. The top of the text has a header that reads "Scorpion." The body of the text reads: "I kill it because we cannot stay in the same room. I kill it because we cannot stay in the same room with me sleeping. I kill it because I might look away and not see it there on the wall when I look back. I killed it because I might spend all night hunting it. I kill it because I am afraid to go near enough with glass and paper to carry it outside. I kill it because I have been told to. I kill it by slapping my shoe against the wall because I have been told to do it that way. I kill it standing as far away as possible and stretching my hand holding the shoe towards it. I kill it because it has been making me shake out the bed clothes, look inside my shoes, scan the walls at night. I killed it with two fast blows in case one isn’t enough. I kill it because I can. I killed because it cannot stop me. I kill it because I know it is there. I kill it so that its remains are on the heel of my shoe. I kill it so that its outline with curved sting is on my wall. I kill it to feel sure I will live. I kill it to feel alive. I kill it because I am weaker than it is. I kill it because I do not understand it. I kill it without looking at it. I kill it because I am not good enough to let it live. I kill it out of the corner of my eye, remembering it is black, vertical, stock still on the white wall. I kill it because it will not speak to me." /end ID] (id from notes)