Anne-E. Wood and Tyler Wriston { Part 2 }

Realism

When our journey through the forest comes to its dark and silent end, we lay down our swords and wings and make a bed of leaves beneath an oak.  You wouldn’t know how tired we are.  You never had to stare at the Cyclops’ eye or walk among the restless souls of un-baptized children.  You never had to fly out your window across a starry night in a Spanish Galleon or watch a city ignite in dragon flames.  The moon never showed you his teeth.  The trees are lousy with witches tonight; you can hear them howling for miles.  But our work is done for today.  Time to slip away, to dream of car keys, a glass of orange juice, grocery aisles, homework, skate ponds, the hum of the traffic jam on our way to school.  I brush back her hair, kiss the bridge of her nose, and take hold of her tiny hand.  So there’s this kingdom, I whisper (the wind shakes the branches), where a father sits on the edge of the tub and reads a letter from his daughter, dipping his toes into the warm bath.

—-

Anne-E. Wood’s work has appeared in the magazines Tin House, New Letters, and Gargoyle, among others. She holds an MFA from San Francisco State University and teaches writing at Rutgers University and Gotham Writers’ Workshop.  She lives in Brooklyn and is working on a novel.

Tyler Wriston has a BFA in Photography from Pratt Institute.  He is presently completing his MS in Art Direction BrandCenter for Art Direction in Richmond, Virginia. 

His work can be found at: { www.tylercampbellwriston.com }

—-

Words with Pictures is a weekly two-part post that pairs photographers and writers. The first week, a writer is given a photograph to inspire the creation of a new piece of writing. The following week the photographer is given a piece of writing and responds with a new photographic piece. This series is curated by Conveyor Editor Dominica Paige.