an old woman seated before a fire in Platos cave spoke to him

she said All families disappear eventually, even if it takes a long time.

he thought immediately of his immediate family

his wifes death made them three

difficult words to hear

his overarching family had a depth of sixtysix cousinshe knew all their namesthey knew his  they were of eleven brothers and sisters

his nuclear family was ten

two siblings had died

they were eight 

he had nothing in common with them

they lived half a country away and werent prone to communication

this year he finally stopped trying to communicate

he put away his pen and paperhis envelopes and stamps

stacks of copied letters he wrotecopied because he heard that something said attributed to him from his letters was in pure defiance of what he actually wrote stacks of letters in the corner of his studio he kept were evidence

imagine  evidence  evidence to make sure he wasnt misrepresented  among his family

they thought the things they saw on the wall were real

they knew nothing of the real causes of the shadows

his family

eventually they would disappear

one by one

taking bits of his heart as they did

he hoped he outlived them

because he knew the real forms whose shadows were cast against the wall 

he had evidence

if necessary

1746,  Sunday,  16  9. 18

1300,  Monday,  17  9. 18