What Do You Remember About The Earth? *
It was more like dust. The ants traveled easily from place to place. There was no room for a swing and still they bought one, and squeezed its metal frame between two concrete walls—barely an inch on either side. And there she swung. For hours.
Because of this lack of earth, as soon as she could drive she went looking for it. She drove through the city in search of woods or a heath. She found both. But so unfamiliar to her were they that she was too frightened to get out of the car. She ate her sandwich sitting behind the steering wheel, looking at the lakes and the trees from a safe distance.
But then the unimaginable happened. They moved closer to the edges of the city and an abundance of earth was only a short walk away. On Sundays she made a weekly pilgrimage. She put apples in her pockets and took this sacred walk.
* This question comes from Bhanu Kapil’s book The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers (Kelsey St. Press, 2001) The book is structured around the responses to twelve questions. Bhanu encouraged me to give responding a try. And so I am.