Morning

Lil Wood
Lil Wood
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Downtown this morning, a couple hours before sunrise, before the bulk of white collar commuters are even out of bed, I walked from my bus stop to my office building as usual. On a recessed bench along the sidewalk, an old white man cleared his throat with effort. It was under thirty degrees and he had a lot stuck in his throat and lungs. It didn’t seem so much like he was waking up as just giving up on trying to sleep.

He seemed neat, collected, trying to take care of his person and his belongings. An old-school green hard shell suitcase sat upright next to him like a nightstand. A little radio sat on top of it, small red light glowing in the dark. A female newscaster’s voice cut through the man’s hacking. She said the buses were standing idle, the evacuation wasn’t underway, the shelling was beginning again.

Aleppo is the center of the world this week, and we are failing it. That little radio in the dark set up worlds within worlds where we take turns falling to our knees in gratitude for what we have. The old man is cold and alone on a bench but he isn’t being shelled, and he isn’t trying to keep small children alive. I’m scared for our future under an anti-science authoritarian, but I’m not an old man alone on a bench in the cold. The woman’s voice on the radio was the thread, tying us all together across the world. Or like a bird, a civilized bird, starting to sing before dawn.

(December 2016)

Lil Wood

Written by

Lil is short for Lilith. Outside of her corporate editing gig, she writes about comic books, transit and life (Paste, Newsarama, Stackedd) lilithwood.com

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade