Actions and reactions

Chapter 4: THE RECALL

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About This Book

A series of short stories examines how choices, habits, and chance set off consequences in both private and communal life. Compact narratives move through domestic, rural, and remote settings, portraying incidents that range from everyday misunderstandings to moral reckonings, often rendered with dry irony and precise description. Recurring concerns include responsibility, pride, social expectation, and the unforeseen results of action and inaction, while tone shifts between wry humor and sober reflection. The collection alternates character-focused sketches with satirical and allegorical pieces, presenting varied perspectives on cause and effect in human affairs.

THE RECALL

I am the land of their fathers,
    In me the virtue stays;
I will bring back my children,
    After certain days.

Under their feet in the grasses
    My clinging magic runs.
They shall return as strangers,
    They shall remain as sons.

Over their heads in the branches
    Of their new-bought, ancient trees,
I weave an incantation,
    And draw them to my knees.

Scent of smoke in the evening,
    Smell of rain in the night,
The hours, the days and the seasons
    Order their souls aright;

Till I make plain the meaning
    Of all my thousand years
Till I fill their hearts with knowledge,
    While I fill their eyes with tears.