Collage and monoprint, 14” x 10.5”, Framed

Pretty Red Reminder

By Whitney Fuemmeler

“Pretty and red,” Grandma said. Her backyard was dotted with cardinals, vibrant against pale snow. Stickers on the sunroom windows kept them from trading red wings for red smudges on glass.

Now, I see them in a budding spring tree from my kitchen window—little crimson boxes pulsing with memory, like their hardworking hearts.

Some hearts can’t work very hard. I turn away and see card games at Grandma’s wooden table, played in quiet concentration beneath a clicking fan. The vision sits heavy on my chest, lingering just beyond whatever I’m looking at, here, in my kitchen.