he tripped to the Midwest for his
fathers birthday that weekend
his flight arrived late Wednesday
evening his niece on her way home from
workshe went in late picked him up at
home family stayed up to greet him then they
excused themselveswent to bed his time trailed
theirs by three hours travel didnt affect him he went to the kitchen and sat with
pen and paper magazines at the table
the kitchen table was novel
his place was too small he didnt have
one
at the tables center was a Lazy
Susan it matched the table
on it were two small potted green
plants a crystal candy jar
his father would ask You don’t have one? Nah Dad I don eat candy to speak of You should
have a candy jar. An empty jar You could fill it. he laughed Yare the guy with a sweet tooth You’re mother had a sweet tooth. Obviously its not hereditary Son, his
father rarely called him by his name you should have a
candy jar, I have four around the house.
So yare never far from onecorrect
Oh . I could suppose you could say that. Its evident
I can’t believe you don’t have a candy jar.
there was also a cut-crystal
toothpick holder filled with cellophanewrapped toothpicks matching salt and
pepper shakers a metal cylinder filled
with peppercorns for freshcrushed pepper if preferred
the chairs around the table were Scandinavian
design woodslats artfully bent
forming continuous lines back to fanny
to thighs when his parents bought them
in the 60s he thought they were very modern
they remain timelessly modern
he sat with the paper before himAtlantic
magazines right cellphone atop them above
were three fingers of Jack in a crystal tumbler
he took a sipshifted his
hips ahemmedcleared his throat
before going to bed his sister told him had she sent pictures from the
cemetery to his phone headstones they would go Monday or Tuesday it was her way of preparing him several relatives died during Trumpvirusnot
of the virus he was unable to attend
their wakes funerals
she was being thoughtful
he appreciated it
he looked at
the pictures saw stonessaw their facescould heard their voicesremembered
interactions mell pell snapshots laughter attended them until tears rippleddiluted
them their voices quit
when he
moved away he understood the risk he never
imagined wholesale family deaths seven when airtravel was illadvised
it was a really nice kitchen
table hed eaten at it with every one of
his deceased relatives
0022, Thursday,
20 9. 22
1222, Saturday,
2 12. 22
NIN – Trent Reznor The Persistence of Loss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kz9YRgugls
