THE DEAD CAN HURT, TOO


Even the fake silk flowers appear to die, here, on the table, placed in the center, put on display. I haven’t touched them in years—really touched them. The wire stems slack. The silk petals graying and dusty. I put them away and retrieve them only by the glass vase every year. We have fooled plenty of visitors into thinking they are still alive. In-season. Out-of-season. Outside we grow real tulips along two sides of the house. One side emerges and dies earlier than the second, and afterward the bald stems stand petal-less for weeks. The children want to pull them, they want to help, and we have to bat their hands away like bugs and explain to them they can still damage the dying and the already dead.


Brendan Todt