A Friendly Companion Alexia Walz

“Fragmentation” by Kohleen Lyons (photographed by Zachary Stensen)

Clockwork / Alexia Walz

the pale blue shade of the sky the jade green grass the muddy brown color of the tree’s bark and the gray, almost white pigment of the sidewalk somehow, all make sense like pieces of a puzzle that requires no logic to solve. everything has a place everything has its exact purpose and knows exactly where it is meant to be

and yet…

the leaves shift from a basic green to a vibrant red, a distant orange, and a banana pepper yellow, like clockwork, every year.

the kids mark the sidewalk with

pastel pictures of flowers or an innocent game of hopscotch, like clockwork, every now and then.

sometimes, on the days when the sky, the grass, the pieces of the puzzle refuse to match, the kids write slurs.