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The Photograph...
In the photograph the family has gathered under the largest magnolia tree. As I recall, some of them were leaving (a second cousin and his wife & son) and the rest of us have come out to the driveway to say good-bye.
As I recall, it was mid morning. My father still in his bathrobe, having slept late. He is smiling but anxious to return to his coffee cup. My mother and aunt are dressed for a day of shopping in town. My mother looks hurried and wanted to get on with it.
My brother, standing towards the back, conspicuously tall, is barefoot and not wearing a shirt. I believe he was planning to spend the day sailing. He is looking towards the Bay.
My oldest cousin, recently married, is standing with her arm around her husband. The other cousins are laughing as though something has just been said. I am standing next to them with my arms folded across my chest not knowing what else to do with them. I am smiling at the camera ready for it to click.
In the center of the group is my great aunt. She is too thin and is leaning on the arm of my uncle. We have all gathered around her but, by her face, she is not aware of it. Her smile has the gentle look of unknowing.
At our feet is an enormous shadow where all our individual shadows have blended. It has taken the strange shape of an animal, a beast with many heads and wings and feet.
From the photograph, there is no way of knowing which direction the animal is moving-or if it is moving at all, or if it has stopped for a moment to graze. The shadow of my brother's head is the animal's ear. My uncle's shadow, slightly to the side, is a long snout, foraging in the air for the scent of enemies. My second cousin and his wife are part of a large wing that the animal has folded back under him. My mother and father are a kind of antler. My cousins and I are part of his head. And my great-aunt - her shadow has disappeared altogether somewhere near the center in the heart of the beast.