Imagining New Worlds Through the Old

Today, I'm linking to a piece I've worked on for several years that's featured at another one of my blogs. It's part fiction, part historical exploration dealing with multiple periods of "discovery." The draw of these eras of history continue to grow upon me, as I dig deeper into colonization and decolonization. A lot of the particular oppressions we face today were created not too many centuries ago. It's in the stories we tell, how we put them together and let them resonate through our actions, that shape the way we go. This little piece is about reclaiming the past, and also the imagination to move forward to perhaps a more liberated world. Here's the first paragraph. Enjoy!

It is June 1905. The eminent physicist Max Planck has just finished lunch and is now sitting down to read his mail. Outside, blue jays yelling, marking their territory. All around them, a heavy rain, carrying away the gravel roads, yet again. Inside, dust, books, and the smell of day old smoke. The volume of mail: high. The prospects for sun before the day is out: low.