Start there, in
\nthe unforgiving middle.
\nWhat matters most <\/p>\n
and most painfully is
\nthe screech:
\nthe noise so fierce, <\/p>\n
so brimming
\nwith echo that its life
\nsmacks you clean <\/p>\n
across. It is breath,
\nthe flame \u2013 not a stillness.
\nIt has the most unfailing<\/p>\n
pulse of anything for
\na mile. Of carburetors,
\nof shoe-string, <\/p>\n
of the rear window that
\nyou embellished
\nin the yard. Of you,<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
now: any of your
\ngentle, mewling, over-
\nbitten lungs. Then, <\/p>\n
if you ask
\nthe more essential
\nquestion, I\u2019ll tell you <\/p>\n
it actually began with
\nshag. Stupor. Patches of
\ngrass unfolding<\/p>\n
over the admonished
\ndirt. Will you believe
\nthat none of us <\/p>\n
leaned out of paradise
\ncraving this exploded
\nmasterpiece? That <\/p>\n
the punch had already
\nexpired? Yet
\nyou had to invite <\/p>\n
the neighbors
\nto a garden party on
\nthe snowiest afternoon<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
of winter. Daughter,
\nthese splinters and this
\nkindling are your<\/p>\n
blood and brain.
\nThere is no going back
\nwhen the fire is<\/p>\n
at play, and it
\nis, though it may be
\nhard to explain<\/p>\n
how. What it means
\nto dance footless
\nover the world, to be <\/p>\n
at and simultaneously
\nto be the mouth of
\nan unmarked road. <\/p>\n
Start there, in the unforgiving middle. What matters most and most painfully is the screech: the noise so fierce, so brimming with echo that its life smacks you clean across. It is breath, the flame \u2013 not a stillness. It has the most unfailing pulse of anything for a mile. Of carburetors, of shoe-string, of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6Jypy-inquest","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6680"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10081,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6680\/revisions\/10081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}