Conditional Reality

When we were children we sometimes found dead birds or squirrels. We would then tell all our friends, who would come examine the body, completely spellbound by its other worldly appearance. Some of us had pets that died: small green turtles, or dogs or cats. When these creatures expired we felt sadness, the first inklings of the deep sense of loss that so many adults live with. But the death of wild things was different. Without the clouding effects of grief we saw clearly the clean and sobering stillness placed before our eyes like a promise of deep, unmoving loss.