David Chandler
Death Space Time Love
In her forthright way, the three-year-old confides, “I’m afraid of the T-Rex. He eats other animals. The other animals will cry.”
Grandfather tries to think fast – how to keep dancing around this chasm they’ve left in the child’s understanding of the world. “Don’t worry. The T-Rex is in another time; so he can’t hurt any animals or people here.”
“Is he in Chicago?” – a mysterious “other place” from which grandparents come and go — “Could he come on a plane?”
“No, another time is different from another place. We can go from place to place in a plane or a car, but no one can go from one time to another. People have been trying hard to think of a way to get to another time, but no one can figure out how. So for sure no dinosaur could do it.”
“Okay. Good.”
Later grandfather has a further reward for a challenging day of childcare. His daughter, calm and rested, hugs her child. They nuzzle into each other, simply happy, entirely at peace.
the T-Rex looming at the end of life put off with sophistry answered with a mother’s kiss
About the Author
For years Dave Chandler has enjoyed reading poetry based on Japanese models. Since his recent retirement from managing social service and economic development programs, he has made writing poetry an avocation. His writing travels with him and his wife, Mary, between the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago and the Driftless region of Wisconsin.