{"id":5230,"date":"2011-05-26T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T16:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/specialcollections\/?p=5230"},"modified":"2017-08-11T10:58:39","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T14:58:39","slug":"paulflew-listen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/paulflew-listen\/","title":{"rendered":"When Paul Flew Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by Wesley McNair<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n\t<audio id=\"wp_mep_1\"      controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\"  >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t<source src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/files\/2010\/03\/When-Paul-flew-away-edit-mp3.mp3\" type=\"audio\/mp3\" \/>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/audio>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\njQuery(document).ready(function($) {\r\n\t$('#wp_mep_1').mediaelementplayer({\r\n\t\tm:1\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen']\r\n\t\t,audioWidth:400,audioHeight:30\r\n\t});\r\n});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<h4>When Paul Flew Away<\/h4>\n<p>It was the same as always,<br \/>\nPaul opening the big, black lung<br \/>\nof it with that worried look<br \/>\nwhile the cats watched<br \/>\nfrom under the stove,<br \/>\nbut when he closed<br \/>\nhis eyes and begun to sink<br \/>\ndown between the straps<br \/>\nof his bib overalls,<br \/>\nit was like he died. Except<br \/>\nthe accordion was still breathing<br \/>\na waltz between his hands,<br \/>\nexcept he called back<br \/>\nto us every so often<br \/>\nfrom wherever he was, &#8220;Shit.&#8221;<br \/>\nWhich meant everything<br \/>\nhe had ever known<br \/>\nin his life up to that<br \/>\nmoment, but this song.<br \/>\nNot some sock-drawer<br \/>\nmusic of getting a tune out<br \/>\nand then rummaging<br \/>\nfor the chord to match,<br \/>\nbut together, exactly like<br \/>\nhe was breathing the thing<br \/>\nhimself. No stomping<br \/>\neither, just Paul twisting<br \/>\nlike he was after some deep<br \/>\nitch, only right then<br \/>\nhe was starting to lift<br \/>\nout of his chair. Slowly<br \/>\nat first, like flypaper<br \/>\nin a small breeze, then<br \/>\nthe whole enormous weight<br \/>\nof him hanging over the sink. God,<br \/>\nhe was happy, and I<br \/>\nand the kids was laughing<br \/>\nand happy, when all<br \/>\nat once it come to me,<br \/>\nthis is it. Paul is leaving<br \/>\nthe old Barcalounger<br \/>\nstuck in second<br \/>\nposition, and the TV on top<br \/>\nof the TV that don&#8217;t<br \/>\nwork, and all my hand-paintings<br \/>\nof strawberries as if he never<br \/>\nsaid this would be Strawberry Farm.<br \/>\n&#8220;Hey!&#8221; I said out in the yard<br \/>\nbecause he was already going<br \/>\nright over the roof<br \/>\nof the goat shed, pumping<br \/>\nthat song. &#8220;What about you<br \/>\nand me?&#8221; And Paul<br \/>\njust got farther and smaller<br \/>\nuntil he looked like a kid<br \/>\nunfolding paper dolls over<br \/>\nand over, or like<br \/>\nhe was clapping slowly<br \/>\nat himself, and then<br \/>\nlike he was opening up the wings<br \/>\nof some wild, black bird<br \/>\nhe had made friends with<br \/>\njust before he disappeared<br \/>\ninto the sky above the clouds<br \/>\nall over Maine.<\/p>\n<p><!--themify_builder_static--><!--\/themify_builder_static--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hear &#8220;When Paul Flew Away&#8221; read by Wesley McNair<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":668,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[659,577,302,226],"tags":[394,527,223],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5230"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13437,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5230\/revisions\/13437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/copycscmcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}