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31 MOUNTAIN OF NAMES I’m฀bad฀with฀names,฀so฀as฀I฀push฀forty, I฀forgive฀myself฀for฀hiking฀lower฀Rainier past฀lots฀of฀biggish,฀greyish฀birds that฀I฀can’t฀describe฀more฀precisely. Tit฀for฀tat:฀the฀birds฀don’t฀know my฀species฀name,฀either,฀Homo฀sapiens, nor฀my฀“common”฀moniker,฀Angela, which฀means฀“messenger฀from฀God,” nor฀are฀they฀aware฀of฀my฀medicinal฀uses, spelled฀out฀on฀my฀organ฀donor฀card. It’s฀a฀spring฀day,฀dizzy฀with฀ignorance. The฀ash฀in฀this฀meadow’s฀volcanic฀(I฀guess) except฀for฀the฀one-tenth฀of฀one฀percent that฀used฀to฀be฀my฀grandmother. We฀scattered฀her฀here฀with฀no฀marker, and฀field฀guides฀don’t฀list฀her฀new฀name, now฀that฀she’s฀crossed฀over from฀the฀humanities฀to฀the฀sciences. ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀Is฀ash฀a฀mineral? Is฀death฀implicit฀in฀the฀periodic฀table? If฀I฀could฀coin฀a฀word฀for฀this฀meadow, part฀grandmother,฀part฀volcano,฀I’d฀keep฀mum. The฀mountain’s฀most฀itself฀when฀darkness veils฀its฀glacier,฀the฀way฀key฀messages transmit฀themselves, sans฀messenger. ...

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