Bird Skin Coat

Bird Skin Coat

BIRD SKIN COAT Two฀Toyotas฀crash. No฀real฀damage.฀The฀drivers are฀blessed ฀ ฀฀฀฀฀by฀the฀pope฀of฀fate, the฀one฀who฀appears฀erratically, the฀one฀who฀doesn’t฀shave. Their฀engines฀purr฀ho฀hum ho฀hum,฀awry฀on฀offramp฀ice. Do฀the฀drivers฀deserve their฀down฀coats? ฀ ฀ ฀฀฀The฀wind says฀heck฀if฀I฀know. It฀can’t฀reach฀their฀bones. The฀man’s฀airbags฀blew:฀he’s฀okay, just฀bloody฀with฀small฀flesh wounds. ฀ ฀The฀woman฀he฀hit is฀still฀42.฀She฀notes฀with฀wonder how฀her฀parka฀fits฀her฀perfectly the฀way฀a฀dove’s฀skin฀holds the฀whole฀bird฀together. ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀Fate is฀not฀a฀thing฀with฀feathers, it’s฀old,฀bald,฀and฀blind, a฀pope฀who฀can’t฀decipher the฀man’s฀name, ฀ ฀ ฀David฀Pratt, as฀he฀scrawls฀it฀on฀scratch฀paper. But฀the฀woman฀reads:฀David, Yahweh’s฀beloved.฀She฀has฀never฀felt฀safer. 3 ...