{"id":2556,"date":"2021-01-07T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T09:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?p=2556"},"modified":"2021-01-04T18:16:15","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T18:16:15","slug":"phobian-dispatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/phobian-dispatch\/","title":{"rendered":"Phobian dispatch<\/span>Amy Souers Kober<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maryland, 1988. Junior high. Our task in Mr. M\u2019s class: author a dispatch to a pal on Phobos, a moon of Mars, communicating highlights about our world.<\/span><\/p>\n

This task had a catch: ABC\u2019s fifth and most common mark was off limits — for, as Mr. M told us, this symbol didn\u2019t occur on Phobos.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This was just a writing drill, to build our vocabulary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But also, this was not a drill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, looking back, I think Mr. M. saw what was coming, was priming us.<\/span><\/p>\n

+++<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m 45 now, living cross country. Land of Pacific salmon. Coho, Chinook, so many runs struggling, vanishing. Not coming back. Dams blocking. Pollution poisoning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I sit by an old fir along a flowing ribbon of rain. Looking, watching, waiting. But no fish, just mist slowly swirling.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m living amidst loss. Gaps and cracks growing. Scripts of migrations thinning, dissolving. What maps, what scraps of instructions do I follow now? As what\u2019s familiar — known symbols — go blank, blink out?<\/span><\/p>\n

Loss compounding loss as food chains fail, catastrophic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Small annihilations turn big. From Latin <\/span>nihil<\/span><\/i>: nothing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

+++<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. M was skinny in slacks. Sitting on a tall stool, making us laugh with his funny sayings. Shouting <\/span>\u201cRutabaga!\u201d about a ridiculous thing. Cracking us up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our moms didn\u2019t talk about it, or only did following his diagnosis, AIDS, his dying.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hushing. His sayings stopping. Not coming back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Facing his own fading, this man taught us how to author with missing words. How to story through this world\u2019s muzzling and muting, how to stay lucid with vanishing ink.<\/span><\/p>\n

+++<\/span><\/p>\n

Moon Phobos, from mythological Phobos: god of war\u2019s son. Symbol of fright. Phobia.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am afraid for this world and for us. What would I say, writing to an imaginary Phobian pal today? That my world is in crisis, rapidly losing mammals, birds, amphibians, fish. That from 1970 our animal populations sank 68%.<\/span><\/p>\n

I could start by naming —<\/span><\/p>\n

Pass ng r Pig on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

North rn Whit Rhinoc rus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pyr n an Ib x.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gold n Toad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolina Parak\u00a0 t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

H ath H n.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Caspian Tig r.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Caribb an monk s al.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019ahu tr\u00a0 snail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

X r s blu .<\/span><\/p>\n

Paradis parrot.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I could say:<\/span><\/p>\n

My Plan t\u00a0 arth is in th\u00a0 middl\u00a0 of a sixth mass global\u00a0 xtinction\u00a0 v nt.<\/span><\/p>\n

My hom\u00a0 is changing b yond r cognition. Our\u00a0 cosyst ms: Riv r, oc an, prairi , for st, d s rt. Tatt r d. Riddl d with hol s. Our\u00a0 arth, languag .\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sil nc d, c nsor d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sinc r ly yours.<\/span><\/p>\n

+++<\/span><\/p>\n

Living in a world without all of its gifts is writing without all of our words. Partial, pitiful.\u00a0<\/span>But survival is in starting, staying. Clinging to words and wild you still know.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What will you say? Will you craft a dispatch, a song, a story, a play, a slogan on a scrap of cardboard?<\/span><\/p>\n

Skipping familiar sounds, but still voicing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doing amidst undoing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking for humor — Rutabaga! — and, possibly – finding brand spanking ways of living.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding bounty in a world of subtraction.<\/span><\/p>\n

You know what to say. It\u2019s in your mouth, on your lips, tip of your —\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy Souers Kober<\/strong> is a river advocate and writer looking for stories that reconnect us with the natural world and each other. She is vice president of communications at American Rivers, a national river conservation organization and the mother of two boys. She lives in Portland, Oregon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Call to action:<\/p>\n

Support your local river or watershed group – they can give you great education and action opportunities tailored to your specific\u00a0region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maryland, 1988. Junior high. Our task in Mr. M\u2019s class: author a dispatch to a pal on Phobos, a moon of Mars, communicating highlights about our world. This task had a catch: ABC\u2019s fifth and most common mark was off limits — for, as Mr. M told us, this symbol didn\u2019t occur on Phobos.\u00a0 This […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from Phobian dispatch<\/span>Amy Souers Kober<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhobian dispatch - Writers Rebel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/phobian-dispatch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phobian dispatch - Writers Rebel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maryland, 1988. Junior high. Our task in Mr. M\u2019s class: author a dispatch to a pal on Phobos, a moon of Mars, communicating highlights about our world. 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