Kin

Most are related to shipwrecked ghosts, accomplices of my blood that can still be found in geographically scattered albums. When there were cities to occupy, they lived one level below expectations. Like defective fireworks, some went off early. A more dedicated few grew old and medicated. They built defunct railroads and dug ditches they later fell into. They were navigators of small shady schemes. Their brief settlements and abrupt departures left fuzzy lines on blacktops and concrete. As a family, we are estranged and unknown, but we do speak to our dead if they come to call, of course only after a respectable period of life-long disinterest.