Object Permanence

A crystal, a silver tooth box, a grandfather’s ring from 1942, a Japanese sea shell plucked from the ocean floor, twin to the shell from Cozumel, a place that is truly home. A rope with a bowline knot, an artery to the sea. The sea, roiling, placid, beautiful and malicious. A black and white photograph from the time of childhood. Childhood, simple yet complicated. A handmade necklace with a replica of an Egyptian cat. Egypt, the land of the pharaohs and the pyramids. The ancient and mystic begets a new Egypt in transition. The things we keep for years with or without realizing it, with or without listening to a muted conscience, the things that give us comfort and security…

Instruction manuals, keys, sunglasses, take-out menus, silver spoons, a love for olives, a small statue of Saraswati, white swan to Kali’s black. A small cross made from the wood of an olive tree in Israel. The end is the beginning is the end. Jerusalem, sacred city, earthly city, heavenly city. City of God, blood and fire

And a Tibetan prayer wheel—To live is to suffer.

-- Lisa Paulick