Bird Skin Coat

American Camel

AMERICAN CAMEL In฀1859฀orders฀were฀received฀for฀a฀contingent฀at฀Camp฀Verde฀to฀ready฀twentyfour ฀camels฀to฀explore฀the฀unknown฀territory฀of฀the฀Big฀Bend฀region฀of฀Texas.฀ The฀absence฀of฀sufficient฀water฀had฀defeated฀many฀an฀expedition฀into฀the฀ desolate฀and฀arid฀land.฀The฀camels฀seemed฀to฀have฀an฀uncanny฀ability฀to฀find฀ water฀at฀just฀the฀right฀time.฀On฀one฀stretch฀the฀caravan฀traveled฀110฀miles฀in฀ almost฀four฀days฀without฀water—much฀to฀the฀astonishment฀of฀the฀military฀ superiors. KEN฀KNAPP,฀“THE฀CAMELS฀OF฀CAPE฀VERDE” i. On฀Fridays฀we฀walked, Bryan฀and฀Mark฀and฀me, behind฀the฀L-shaped฀stadium, talking฀about฀the฀kids from฀our฀high฀school who฀put฀Nick฀Drake on฀their฀car฀stereo฀and฀drove off฀a฀bridge.฀Two฀deaths: glam,฀we฀agreed. ฀฀฀฀฀Above฀our฀heads, the฀national฀anthem was฀both฀flat฀and฀sharp. The฀crowd฀roared like฀a฀rocket฀taking฀off, though฀God฀knows the฀stadium฀stayed฀put. It฀stayed฀for฀the฀long฀haul, its฀bent฀L฀the฀beginning of฀some฀grander฀word: Lorca,฀Laceration,฀Lariat— or฀maybe฀not. Maybe฀its฀L฀was฀the฀start of฀a฀long฀silence,฀and฀the฀crowd was฀a฀cover฀story for฀loss฀after฀loss, for฀camels฀imported฀to฀settle฀the฀West, later฀sold฀to฀circuses, 51 later฀still฀shrunk฀and฀stuck on฀packs฀of฀cigarettes smoked฀by฀kids who฀didn’t฀cheer฀the฀team, who฀couldn’t฀picture฀their฀own฀hands gleaming฀in฀the฀pockets of฀their฀preshrunk฀jeans. ii. Repeat฀after฀me, the฀camel฀croaks: knuckles฀aren’t฀humps. But฀he฀lacks฀credibility.฀Look how฀awkwardly฀he฀stumbles, knocked฀off-kilter by฀water฀welling฀weirdly on฀his฀spine.฀Look฀how฀he฀changes the฀landscape฀until฀the฀hills aren’t฀hills฀and฀the฀sky’s not฀sky.฀How฀can฀an฀actual฀animal so฀closely฀resemble฀a฀lie? 52 ...