Security Notes to the Museum of Winter
by Ivy Alvarez
In the Museum of Winter, there will be no oranges, except for the rumour of fires; no reds, except for tongues, burnt on the lips of cups, their lava mouths. The experts will be Inuit. They have all the knowledge requisite. Wolf-sheep hybrids are highly prized, especially their teeth, how they wear away at the placards, the walls. The mistress curator keeps the rooms ten degrees below comfort. I often see my breath long before I exhale. Snow is holy here, blindness a mark of respect. She and I reminisce over chilblains, compare our blubber, bemoan the calipers at our pinched waists. Behind the wainscoting, the mice scratch, struggling to keep warm.
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Author's Note
This piece first appeared in the inaugural issue of Up the River. http://uptheriverjournal.wordpress.com/issue-one/ivy-alvarez/
Other stories by Ivy Alvarez
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Atmospheric and shrewd, compassionate and sharp-edged. *
This is beautiful. *
Good to read your work here again, Ivy. Great phrasing throughout. Love the closing image-
"Behind the wainscoting, the mice scratch, struggling to keep warm."
*
Whoa. That's nice. "They have all the knowledge requisite is so much more interesting than "They have all the requisite knowledge." That's only one example of the attention to language this piece displays. It works very very well at the language level and stretches the detail stretches into contemplation. I like this a lot.
Wow, this is gorgeous. *
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Beate, Steven, Sam, Chris and Jake. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. :-)
Sam, I took a little break. I hope to return here more often.
Exquisite use of language here. Atmospheric, as Jake said. So well done. *
Thank you for your comment, Christian. Much appreciated.
Agree with Christian... exquisite.
Thank you for your comment, James. I appreciate it.