My memory had always been fuzzy. Dull. Furry? For a long time – years; miles, maybe – I knew not what to do with it, how to manage. I tried cleaning it, petting it, running my fingers through the fur. Attempts at acceptance, at making peace with. Tried squinting my eyes, tried glasses, used mirrors.https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/onearth/1007/thumbnail.jp

Burch, Aaron

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Butler UniversityDigital Commons @ Butler UniversityOn Earth As It Is1-1-2011A Prayer for BabeAaron BurchFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/onearthPart of the Creative Writing Commons, and the Religion CommonsThis Book is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in On Earth As It Is byan authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact fgaede@butler.edu.Recommended CitationBurch, Aaron, "A Prayer for Babe" (2011). On Earth As It Is. Book 24.http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/onearth/24HOMEABOUTAUTHORSCONTACTon earth as it isprayer as story, story as prayer   photo by matthew simmons A Prayer for BabeAaron Burch“There were giants on the earth in those days.”—Genesis 6:4My memory had always been fuzzy. Dull. Furry? For a long time –years; miles, maybe – I knew not what to do with it, how to manage. Itried cleaning it, petting it, running my fingers through the fur. Attemptsat acceptance, at making peace with. Tried squinting my eyes, triedglasses, used mirrors.And then, roaming the roads as any and every other days, I found this,some kind of sharpener. Had I found it by accident, coincidence? Didyou leave it for me; was it there that day, special, or had it been therealways, waiting for me to find? I wouldn’t have known what it was,what its purpose, had it not looked so familiar. Had it not sparkedsomething in my memory that added a weight to my hands, pulled atthe muscles up and through my arms, as I recalled things I hadn’tknown I’d lost.What I recalled: an axe. The heft of it in my arms, weightier even thanmy memory. And sharpening it on this tool that now lay ahead of me.And walking the woods with it, great strides taking me from one side tothe other and back. And sharpening again. Sharpening both sides someticulously that I could have shaved the taste buds from my owntongue. Or even hers. Were I so inclined. Were I so uncareful, soabsent of sense.For _____ days thereafter, I’ve walked the woods, talking aloud tomyself, to the forest. Asking: father, where to next? Asking: Father,what now? Asking: Father, why? Asking: Father?What else I recalled: a companion. A purpose.What else: A swinging motion. A repetition. A chopping.What else: A burden. A loneliness. A sadness.What I can not recall, or have trouble making clear to myself: Adistinction between the three: burden, loneliness, sadness. Whether ornot they are connected, whether or not they may be one in the same.Whether I avoid towns and people without realizing it or they avoidme, I seldom see anyone else. When I do, I only want to ask questionsbut they never have answers. Do they no know or are theywithholding? Is there a difference? Does it matter? All they will give meare stories, stories they say are about me, though they never soundfamiliar. Have I forgotten them or are the stories wrong? Is there adifference?What else I recall: The weight of the sadness, on and in my shoulders,my hands, in the tool I carried, below and behind me.What else I did not: The mass. The difference between mass andweight.So I walk. I keep moving, retracing my steps, finding new ones. Showme where to go next? Tell me? Give me new clues to find, to stumbleupon, to trigger old memories that may or may not be real. Morepeople with more stories about me so I may continue trying to piecemyself together.What else?Continue.Asking:Aaron Burch is the author of How to Predict the Weather, and recentstories have appeared or are forthcoming in Barrelhouse, New YorkTyrant, and Monkeybicycle. He edits Hobart: another literary journal.<---Next Previous--->   Copyright © 2010 by On Earth As It Is.

A Prayer for Babe

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A Prayer for Babe

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