“Artifacts endure: objects suggesting an uncommon journey through a territory,
objects as signposts along back roads known only to the traveler,
objects as symbols of a child’s queries.
My brother and I inherited a small wooden box from our dad. In the division of stuff after he died, I asked for it. I put it away, in a special place.
Several years later, I stumbled across a writing exercise given to his students by Robert Olen Butler, gifted writer and teacher of creative writing at Florida State University. The assignment asks the writer to look at a familiar object, but with fresh eyes.
A question arose: How to take in an impression that falls on the senses without confronting prior impressions. It's more difficult that it seems.
With this assignment, I revisited the box. After much editing and shaping, “Proof” is the result. It was accepted for publication by The Baltimore Review, winter 2019 edition. Sincere thanks to editor Barbara Westwood Diehl.
Here’s the URL: http://baltimorereview.org/index.php