sticks by george saunders

 


OUR FATHER OUR FATHER OUR FATHER OUR FATHER, WHO LIVES WITH US NOW, RESTS IN HIS SUNDAY BED. HE WILL NOT GO ANYWHERE TODAY, OUR FATHER. HE WILL NOT REST, HE WILL NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE. HE IS MADE OF WOOD, WHERE MY MOTHER IS MADE OF STONE. OUR FATHER, I LOVE HIM MORE, FOR WE WILL RETURN TO THE EARTH QUICKER, QUICKER, QUICKER. THE SALTED GROUND WE STAND UPON IS MARKED BY THE WORDS HE HAS PRAYED INTO THIS EARTH. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU MEET OUR FATHER. THE WORDS HE WILL WHITTLE YOU WITH WILL NOT LOVE NOR LEARN YOU. YOU WILL BE THE ROOT OUR FATHER GROWS FROM, BUT HE WILL LISTEN TO YOU. THE WORDS OF A STRANGER ARE WELCOME TO OUR FATHER, FOR YOU ARE NOT WOOD NOR STONE BUT A FABRIC FOR HIM TO DEVOUR. TELL HIS LIFE TO HIM IN TWO PARAGRAPHS AND THE GLYPHS OF YOUR BODY WILL BE ETCHED UPON HIM. YET I AM SUFFOCATING, TRAPPED IN HIS BARK. HE HAS OUTGROWN ME.  OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HOLLOW BE HIS NAME.  OUR FATHER DOES NOT RESPOND TO ACKNOWLEDGING HIS CHILDREN, RATING KNOWING THE WORLD TO BE HIS NEST. OUR FATHER WHO WE LOVE, WILL NOT LEFT US BE. HIS KINGDOM SITS IN A MIND OF HIS OWN, IN A LANGUAGE I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. NO MAN AN ISLAND, NO MAN MADE OF A MATERIAL SO GOOD FOR HIS TRUTH. OUR FATHER MADE SIGILS TO MARK OUR BIRTH BUT HIDES THEM FROM US NOW, BETWEEN THE LIFE HE HAS MADE FOR HIMSELF, AND THE LIFE LEFT BEHIND HIM. ONE DAY OUR FATHER WILL NOT RECOGNISE US. I WILL ASK HIM TO REMEMBER ME. BORN OF US, I REMIND HIM. BORN OF US. BORN OF THE NEST, BORN OF THE TREE, BORN OF STONE HE WILL FALL. STILL, WE SINK SAFELY WITH HIM, AS HE LIVES ELSEWHERE. MY FATHER DOES NOT FIND COMFORT IN THIS PRAYER, BUT RATHER HAS ANOTHER CALL TO MAKE. OUR FATHER KNOWS HOW TO PHONE THE WHOLE WORLD. I WILL ASK OUR FATHER FOR HIS TIME. OUR FATHER, FREE FROM IRONY. OUR FATHER COLLECTS SIGILS AND GLYPHS AND LANGUAGES UNFAMILIAR TO YOU. OUR FATHER FEELS GOOD ABOUT IT. OUR FATHER, LEAD BY TEMPTATION, SAYS HE’S BETTER NOW. DELIVERED FROM ME ALONE, I’M LISTENING, BUT HE REFUSES TO HEAR ME. THE TREES DO NOT TALK BACK. OUR FATHER, I AM WAITING FOR AN ANSWER. 

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