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Imaginary Dinner Party, Part Sixteen

By Lynn Crawford


One
Lying prone in the undergrowth beneath the trees surrounding my home, I think back to my great aunt who never sat in the sun without eyeglasses, lipstick, her wide brimmed hat, and skin slathered with protective creams. I remember the day she, head shaking, index finger pointing, scolded me for not wearing the face-shielding scarf she gave me to use in the sun and how I winced at anything she tried to rub into my face. Now, thanks mostly to her—and our town’s head librarian and my good friend, Rose—I regularly nourish my skin.

With overcast skies today removing (temporarily) any threat of sun damage, I picture adventures with that aunt. For example, us parachuting from great heights onto a beach at the edge of a wavy body of water; us driving up a winding, mountain road to a medieval castle, possibly haunted, and perilously perching at its peak; or strolling in the dense forest behind it, which is known for hosting various spirits and ghosts. Though neither of us sees them we both sense and take comfort in their presence.

Two
One late morning, I sit on the long wood bench facing the ocean, watching a bird circle the sky before moving toward and eventually landing next to me on the bench’s backrest. A gentle warmth seeps through my chest, neck, and shoulders (both sore from recent long ocean swims). Please, please, I think, nothing break this moment, and in fact the bird and I keep our positions while I remember a neighbor we had years ago who deeply missed her long-deceased husband and believed he returned to earth as a bird perched on her windowsill in any kind of weather. I hear the waves and feel gusts of wind as the temperature drops and the sun begins to set and the sky turns gray and soon there are no more beachgoers swimming, chatting or playing music, no speed boats, threat of storms or high winds, just overcast, evening conditions, and I think gray might just be my favorite color. Gray, the color of fog, Stonehenge, and the sky.

Three
At times, quiet is what I want, others it is conversation, music, even sirens, trucks, trains, or airplane traffic. I just now recall visiting the theater district of a big city to see a play. With cars blasting music and horns honking, I was not sure if the best show that day was the play itself or walking up and down the streets near the theater; its sounds, textures, and forms allowing passersby to soak up throbs of some, to be honest, initially disarming or even unwelcome activity that over time lead to deep, if distant or indirect, stimulation.


Frankenstein [The Modern Prometheus]
By Mary Shelley
Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, 1818
Fiction

Wuthering Heights
By Emily Brontë [Ellis Bell]
Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847
Fiction



Imaginary Dinner Party is a literary series by Lynn Crawford that explores “what happens when books join forces.” Read the archive:

Part One, Under Stories (spring 2021)
Part Two, Heal the People (summer 2021)
Part Three, Think Like a Detective (fall 2021)
Part Four, Possession (winter 2022)
Part Five, Forms of Engagement (spring 2022)
Part Six, Conversations (summer 2022)
Part Seven (fall 2022)
Part Eight (winter 2023)
Part Nine (spring 2023)
Part Ten (summer 2023)
Part Eleven (fall 2023)
Part Twelve (winter 2024)
Part Thirteen (spring 2024)
Part Fourteen (summer 2024)
Part Fifteen (fall 2024)

Lynn Crawford’s books include Simply Separate People (2002), Fortification Resort (2005), Shankus & Kitto: A Saga (2016), and Paula Regossy (2020). She is currently working on her next novel, Closely Touched Things. An excerpt from that book, Take Away From the Total, was published in issue no. one of Three Fold.



Founded in 2020, Three Fold is an independent quarterly based in Detroit that presents exploratory points of view on arts, culture, and society in addition to original works in various media, including visual art, literature, film and the performing arts. We solicit and commission contributions from artists, writers, and activists around the world. Three Fold is a publication of Trinosophes Projects, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in the historic Eastern Market neighborhood in downtown Detroit. Click here to check out Three Fold’s events page and view a schedule of the publication’s on-site activities.

Three Fold recognizes, supports, and advocates for the sovereignty of Michigan’s twelve federally-recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. We operate on occupied territories called Waawiiyaataanong, named by the Anishinaabeg and including the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), and Bodewatomi (Potawatomi) peoples. We hold to commit to Indigenous communities in Waawiiyaataanong, their elders, both past and present, and future generations.