The First Tram Run

The Barge Heron

A gray heron rides the bow of a slow canal barge like a carved figurehead, lifting off at each lock and settling again beyond it. By the last gate the morning mist has become bright washing-line country.

The Roof-Rack Carpet

Lashed to a mountain bus's roof rack, a rolled crimson carpet crosses high passes, dust clouds, and one shallow river ford on its way to a village wedding. The bus arrives gray with dust everywhere except its bright red heart.

The Lantern Fleet

Old TOMAS rows out after dark and hangs a lantern from his stern, one flame among dozens scattered across the black bay. Toward morning the lamps drift home in a slow constellation, and the fish market lights up to meet them.

The Glowing Tide

Long past bedtime, ISA follows her cousins down a dark path to a beach where every breaking wave flares blue. They drag their toes through the wet sand to write their names, and the sea answers in sparks.

The Basement Press

In a basement print shop, a pressman runs tomorrow's town paper while the streets above him sleep. At four he carries warm bundles out through falling snow, leaving one on each doorstep the streetlights have kept lit.

The Taverna Geckos

As a cliff-top taverna stacks its last chairs, geckos slip onto the warm lamp-lit wall to hunt moths above the dark sea. The lamps click off one by one until only the moon lights their little hunting ground.