Genealogy Dream
To recall but not recall: family, the swift curve
of evolution’s arc. One moment your knuckles
scrape the earth’s surface, and the next you’re
pinpointing mortar fire by satellite phone. Or,
having plowed the field by hand, you fertilize
with human dung (no swords in this hovel),
only to wake into a dream of high rises and
coffee served steaming by a blushing ingenue
who morphs into an uncle, killed in China
on the wrong side of the war, leaving his
sister still mired in grief six decades later
under the Texas sun. On this end of memory’s
ocean, we know poverty and its engendered
disrespect, neighbors’ children warned not
to play with you, for fear that the family’s
lack of nickels would rub off and contaminate,
that your belly’s empty shadow might spread
down the unpaved streets and envelop even
those who don’t need to share a single egg
for dinner. Years later the son will celebrate
his tenth year by suffering the indignity of
a bloody nose and a visit to the principal’s
office, a gift of the sixth grader who would
never again employ “Nip” to disparage
someone, at least not without looking over
his shoulder in fear of small fists and quiet
rage. Which half measures harder? In one
hand, steel. In the other, water. I pour green
tea on rice and recall days I’ve never lived.
“Genealogy Dream” was first published in August 2018 in Issue 4 of Lost River literary magazine. Many thanks to editor Leigh Cheak for taking this piece.
It’s really nice one dear.
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Thank you.
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wow, this is so powerful
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Thanks very much, Beth.
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Very nice 👍👍
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Thank you.
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I’m with Beth. This is so powerful, on multiple planes that are hard to articulate. I love the photo, too, Bob — the small intimacy of your dad’s hand on your mother’s arm, hers on his thigh.
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Thanks, Cate. So many stories, so much unsaid.
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Dreams can be incredibly “real” – enough to shape or perspectives on prior events/ways where our memory presents empty shelves awaiting some sort of context/explanation. You make it all feel very real!
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Most of my dreams are too bizarre to be real, but sometimes…
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Great post dear ❤️
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Thank you.
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You are most welcome ❤️
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Really good!
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Thanks very much, Jay.
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Wow!
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Thanks, PJ. Family is so interesting…
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