Yesterday
when Baby ran in our garden she held out her palms to the beat of the sun.
Today she waves as starlings flock, as we cross the cut field following the
whirling tail of Dog. The sky is damp more than it is any particular colour.
Baby studies the birds; they gather on a wire, fall like confetti into staccato
winds. A slug dark with purpose seems lost amongst dry stalks. The ground
curves down to thick green hedges. On skin, air leans close, whispers
indecipherable sounds. Baby turns her head, from one edge of field to the
other, seeking the source of the murmur. She looks to the earth, she looks to the
heavens. She looks into her grandmother’s eyes and smiles with the semblance of
someone who has recalled a thing of extraordinary import. I scoop her up like
sifted gold; we run with Dog, laughing and laughing.
There is weather today, I do note it: take a few moments to reckon the size of a cloud (big) and the frequency of rain (sporadic.) Centre of my interest though is a stack of magazines. Not the fashion kind. This is martial arts research. I'm not even sure what it is I'm looking for, but intuition calls loud. A range of old adverts skew some amusement. Contact pants, for example. Pants are not trousers where I come from. They are underwear. Professional contact pants: improved smirk value. But why would a person be likely to purchase a grappling hook and a lock pick set? For specialists and hobbyists only, the blurb assures. Guidance on the pheromone spray that attracts women against their better judgement? I doubt it works any more proficiently than the mysterious potion that defines your muscles while you sleep. But, then: I wonder is some sprayed on this paper? What was my intuition thinking, making this ghastly shout… Tea break time. There's a lot of words...


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