The School Ferry

The First Tram Run

A tram driver takes the day's first car through streets still lamplit and empty, ringing her bell at every bakery she passes. On the return run the city has woken, and the same bell parts a river of bicycles.

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.