{"id":341,"date":"2020-04-30T16:20:09","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T16:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.illinoisstate.edu\/euphemism\/15-2\/?page_id=341"},"modified":"2020-04-30T20:25:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:25:53","slug":"at-the-edge-of-lake-michigan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/poetry\/at-the-edge-of-lake-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"At The Edge of Lake Michigan\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">by <strong>Ryan Cox<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upon an expanse of land\u2014overlooking the spreading tapestry of liquid physics and freshwater trash that spans out toward the horizon line\u2014stands a solitary figure, immovable among the free-floating particles that dance about in the moonlight, perceiving this scene.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The water slithers up against thick boulders and the earth hirsute with grass breathes the dense night air in hive-mind unison as per usual, but the scene always manages to manifest a different personality each time, and this one is no exception, seemingly teeming with nondescript urgency and insistence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With time, this scene eventually&nbsp;passes,&nbsp;and he leaves no record of his past-participle presence; no physical imprint upon the sonic net of reality will tie him to that moment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(The world forgets it the&nbsp;<\/em><em>instant<\/em><em>&nbsp;it goes away.)<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But behind his clenched jaw and pock-marked face lies the inexplicable projection of what just occurred.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Every photon of that perceived environment xeroxed for future nostalgia.)<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throbbing somewhere deep inside the tumbling roulette wheel of thoughts, images, and sounds is a cartographer working hard time and behind every canvas\u2014behind every nosebleed and behind every childhood morning and every realization of death and every pathetic moan for forgiveness\u2014lies the conscious effort of preservation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the instant these moments end, they vanish without a trace.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He is sure glad this one didn\u2019t; he can tell someone took their time making it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Ryan Cox Upon an expanse of land\u2014overlooking the spreading tapestry of liquid physics and freshwater trash that spans out toward the horizon line\u2014stands a solitary figure, immovable among the free-floating particles that dance about in the moonlight, perceiving this scene.&nbsp; The water slithers up against thick boulders and the earth hirsute with grass breathes&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"toivo-read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/poetry\/at-the-edge-of-lake-michigan\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">At The Edge of Lake Michigan\u2026<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-341","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/341\/revisions\/342"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}