What If We Had A Chance To

The Past Is What You Take With You.

I Had A Novel In The Back Of My Mind When I Won An Ian St James Story Competition In 1993. At The Award Ceremony An Agent Asked Me If I Was Writing A Novel. I Showed Her Four Or Five Chapters Of What Would Become 'behind The Scenes At The Museum' And To My Surprise She Auctioned Them Off.

Some People Spend Their Whole Lives Looking For Themselves, Yet Our Self Is The One Thing We Surely Cannot Lose (how Like A Cheap Philosopher I Am Become, Staying In This Benighted Place). From The Moment We Are Conceived It Is The Pattern In Our Blood And Our Bones Are Printed Through With It Like Sticks Of Seaside Rock. Nora, On The Other Hand, Says That She’s Surprised Anyone Knows Who They Are, Considering That Every Cell And Molecule In Our Bodies Has Been Replaced Many Times Over Since We Were Born.

As I Watch, The Sky Fills With Clouds Of Snow Feathers From Every Kind Of Bird There Ever Was And Even Some That Only Exist In The Imagination, Like The Bluebirds That Fly Over The Rainbow.

Most People Muddled Through Events And Only In Retrospect Realized Their Significance.