Posted: 10/02/22

Sunset 16 January - Dan Toffolo

I was born and raised in Hull and spent my first 28 years in and around the city.  As my vigil started, at first I just concentrated on the buildings and the geography – working out which streets ran below, what I could see at the skyline and how the cityscape had changed since I left.  Gradually, as the vigil continued, I began to map out my life around the city – where I was born, the different areas I lived in and finally a move to (just) beyond the horizon.  Then I thought of my parents’ lives and the places they had around this city . . . and then I realised how quickly living memory fades as I realised I had no parents left to ask where their parents had lived around the city.  Finally, I just let my mind empty (thank God you say, after half a page of this drivel) and concentrated on the emerging sunrise.  It was overcast so the thin shower of orange/red lights just looked like some divine moorland fire.

 Secure in the knowledge you’ll never read my handwriting, thanks for a great and unexpectedly moving experience.