Slow and Painless Death

42 the minnesota review Marlaina Tanny Slow and Painless Death A week later, the city cleans the streets. It's raining without conviction; a syncopated tap against the leaves. The slate stones in my yard turn shiny grey. A lullabye of sorts, calming us back into our lives. Outside four men: one fat, one old and two young with mustaches pitch the severed limbs into a waiting truck. No one talks to anyone; they could be loading bodies for all of their solemnity. After the hurricane when the sky lightened to opaque, people came out of their homes to survey the damages. It was a windy day carnival with dogs and children in tow. Drunk on the smell of exposed sap, our barriers broke down. That was a week ago. We have put aside the hurricane. Drawing back too soon, we forgot to ask each other's names. The hedges and remaining trees cloak, once again, our ambiguity. These men who clear our lawns are strangers. I wait, secretly, for the next upheaval, praying it will have the force to destroy our walls, leaving us alive. Meanwhile, t.v. characters Tanny 43 run across our dilated eyes and our faces glow in metallic hues. NSl Nature, Society, andThought A Journal of Dialectical and Historical Materialism This new quarterly interdisciplinaryjournal published by the Marxist Educational Press will continue MEP' s tradition of opening channels for publication of outstanding Marxist scholarship, including work by scholarsin socialistcountries. Subscriptions: Check in US$ (drawn on US bank) or international postal money order to NST, University of Minnesota, 1 16 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 Individuals $15 (1 yr.) $28 (2 yr.) Institutions $28 (1 Yr.) $56 (2 yr.) Subscriptions outside U.S.: add $4 postage per year ...