Take What You Can Carry

by Gian Sardar

Is it possible to truly know someone if you cannot comprehend that which made them who they are?

She’s been known to sing carols in July and to carry around a small twig of fir tree to convince herself of another place and time.

Seeds covered and hidden, plants that would bloom later in the year—a garden was not just for the present but for the anticipation of a future day.

Though she gets only a few steps right, she soon no longer cares because even her haphazard dancing takes her mind off any sad promises, and the gleam of the sequins on the dresses and the feel of the taffeta and sun combine with the fact that an entire field is dancing, the flute bright and the colors dazzling and the people happy, scarves at either end waved in the air like punctuations to their revelry.