Do you know your ancestors’ scars<\/p>\n
like the caterpillar-shaped indent<\/p>\n
on your left thigh? The brown<\/p>\n
of your grandfather’s eyes lives<\/p>\n
in your mirror. You see<\/p>\n
what he saw<\/p>\n
in Germany but never spoke<\/p>\n
of. The red, the sound<\/p>\n
a body makes when it hits<\/p>\n
the ground.<\/p>\n
You’ve never met the man<\/p>\n
but his eyes look at you every day.<\/p>\n
When Dad hands you a .22 rifle<\/p>\n
for a second<\/p>\n
the targets are more<\/p>\n
than targets.<\/p>\n
What that 18-year-old<\/p>\n
could never unsee echoes<\/p>\n
in my 18-month-old nephew’s<\/p>\n
eyes. Grandma points at his left thigh<\/p>\n
on a Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
“That’s where your Pap was hit<\/p>\n
with shrapnel.”<\/p>\n
A caterpillar scar.<\/p>\n\t
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/p>\n
I once saw a set of quad tracks heading across a frozen dam. The tracks led in but never reached the other side. There was no sign of broken ice.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you know your ancestors’ scars like the caterpillar-shaped indent on your left thigh? The brown of your grandfather’s eyes lives in your mirror. You see what he saw in Germany but never spoke of. The red, the sound a body makes when it hits the ground. You’ve never met the man but his eyes look at you every day. When Dad hands you a .22 rifle for a second the targets are more than targets. What that 18-year-old could … <\/p>\n