We didn’t know enough to be afraid of ifs & buts & what some men do at night out of boredom or under the banners of their gods, but we knew about clouds. How to re-story them, draw new beasts for our new myths. How to pinch out the rain between thumb & forefinger & make things green again. How to thunder. This was between wars so our fathers for the most part had no jobs but were there, at least there in the sky, cirrus or cumulus or more often that gray featureless stratus suggesting storm. We knew storm. We knew how the inconsequential builds to fever pitch before breaking down wire fences, blowing the windows back inside, rattling a house entire. & the peace of its eye. We knew peace as one part dream to ten parts waiting for it to end. We didn’t know where our yard ended & the sky began. How one night soon the men would come to pinch our fathers from the clouds.
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Readers’ Comments
- Laurel Wexman { I am re- reading this for the millionth time, through tears, once again. It is absolutely perfect! }
- Antonie Becker { Beautifully movingly written so, Thank God, the talent and ability is still somehow, miraculously, intact. }
- Jim Brennan { Garry, you mentioned this piece at the PVTU meeting - nicely written. It had me searching around, as things like this tend to do, for... }
- Dan Minnock { Hello All, Are you taking submissions for the June 2022 contest? }
- D. Oakleaf { Dear James, Thank you for sharing this outstanding essay. My father also built a "Z-Box" and I've recently taken up learning its backstory, even if... }
- F. J. Bergmann { We're near the end of 2021. When will the 2020 Fiction Contest results be announced? }
- Dawn Holmes { Blimey - what a read........we just celebrated a UK and anyone else who could make it - Cusichaca reunion at our home in Scotland -... }
- Literal Latte { Thanks, Richard, that is much appreciated! You stay safe, too! }
- Literal Latte { Hi James and Michelle (and other writers who have inquired) -- We're truly sorry about the delay. It looks like results for the fiction contest... }