In the Absence of Clocks

Remember

37 Remember Poor-man’s cherub, the thin boy flies by modest means, balloons tied to his ears. Me, with a lassoed pair of moths. Our low altitude allows a closer watch on the odd celebrations: memorial days with no men, women dancing with women. Widows who brooch themselves in the silvers and ribbons of war, remnants of the generation of men who should be dancing. Strange, the boy says, Why wear a dead man’s medal? His answer flushes across a dancer’s cheek. A presence is marked, a swirl of blackbirds fingerprints the sky. ...