My New Novel
Control
two lovers simultaneously in your
quest to unite them.
—from an iTunes ad for an
game called “Staying Together”
Inside
my telephone I see two spots,
and
several dogs on the run. Cons-
truction
has moved from outside
to
inside. How hardcore can a team
of
specialists banging around my
bay
windows be (the answer:
very!)
as they gradually make
their
way into the stairwell,
which
is now an art exhibit
of
rectangular shapes cut into
the
walls, complete with ladders
and
sheets of plastic covering
the
stairs. As I walk down
for
some groceries, I peer into
each
hole in the wall and can
see the
beautiful inner wall that
is within. It’s made of bricks
of many
different colors:
floor
3, clayey red to the east;
floor
2, brown like the soil in
the
river valley (Northwest
Arkansas);
floor 1.5, black
like a
soot-covered,
chargrilled
heart.
Looking
out for the needs of a single character
won’t get you far, as these
inexorable
companions move in unison.
—from the same iTunes game advertisement ("Staying Together")
