WEBVTT

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"The Green Shelf."

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Driving back from the market,
bags of groceries beside me.

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I saw on a lawn the body
of a gray-haired man

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twisted beside his power mower.

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A woman twisted her hands above
him, mouth wide with a cry.

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She bent close to him.

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Straightened.

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Bent again.

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Straightened.

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And an ambulance
stopped at the curb.

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I drove past them slowly while
helpers kneeled by the man.

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Over the stretcher, the lawn
mower continued to throb.

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And, absently, the
hand of the old woman

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caressed the shuddering handle.

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Back.

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I put the soup cans in
order on the green shelves--

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pickles, canned milk,
peas, basil, and tarragon.

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Slightly earlier version of
that came out in Ironwood here.

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I've changed it a little.

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