Familiar Strains

Dad strums a piece of firewood. It yields electric melodies, an accompaniment to the sound from the vibrations of unbreakable bonds. Habitual conformations minimize torsional strain on these rings of relationships. Similar stories retell themselves yearly. Familial legends become communally owned images. Mom's engagement ring diamond falls for perpetuity from clasp to creek to the mouth of a trout. Dazzled by the shining stone, the fish eats the piece of sunlight sinking in murky water. So the tale unwinds until a fisherman reels in the fish, splits it open, and finds treasure buried in a body of the Schoharie water some future moment. And along to the hum of the tale-telling voices, the guitar plays for years variations of its own tune, Daylight Promises. The promises last least long. A diamond is forever. As are stories, small grievances, traditions, familial love. The comfort of Christmas at Brant Lake.