“ When the radio in my car broke I started to notice the trees.

I began to stop exaggerating the color of leaves, how their reds and oranges needed no wordy embellishment.

I started to open the window and smell the wet pavement.

After morning rain. Crows on the phone line, their blackness and stubborn dignity. I even noticed my hands gripping the wheel, the small dark hairs, the skin, the knuckles and the perfect blue veins.”

— Neil Carpathios, Beyond the Bones