This Other Eden

by Paul Harding

Iris said, Vi, it’s not Indians you can’t trust, it’s people. Men, mostly, if you want to know the truth. Maybe white men most of all, I’ll grant— and you know what I mean;plain white; not the color of their skin but the state of their minds, just like being a man or a lady is a state of mind. But it’s a veritable prejudice to say you don’t trust Indians as a rule.

To embrace hope is good; not so hope’s endless disappointments,