elegy for shared alleles

contraband critters. gold in the sunlight. singe only the edges.

google tells me everything i need to know about your death. that hawk is on the fence again. all that remains are locks of your hair, and locks of mine.

because no one knows where we go. because you died on a Tuesday. because it’s Tuesday again. no, it’s Wednesday. because i failed you. because sorrow found me when i was young. because you were my music and now you are missing from me. because i don’t wanna get over you. because no one knows where we go. when we’re dead. or when we’re dreaming.

[00:00]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions>The clip opens with a lilting, melodic acoustic guitar played by Chris Reimer which continues throughout the 01:53 piece. The video starts with footage of southernOntario in the fall filmed through a moving VIA Rail train at moderate speed.The weather is sunny with a few wispy clouds, the trees are nearly bare, and the scrub grasses and shrubs are yellowed, indicating late season. A Starbucks cup in the train seat’s cupholder can be viewed in the reflection from the window.

[00:03]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> A small image of a hawk sitting on a “One Way” traffic sign is overlaid on the road footage, fading out at 00:06. The train drives past a small pond and then several houses.

[00:13]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The overlay of the hawk and sign returns, taking up a large part of the screen and fading out again at 00:16.

[00:24]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The footage abruptly changes to footage filmed through a taxiing airplane window, this time of the airport runway and a snowed-over field. A small airplane is parked partway through the field and trees can be seen in the distance. The camera passes a yellow sign. The low drone of the airplane engines can be heard under the guitar music.

[00:32]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> An overlay of a yellow and black cartoonish cat head doodled by Chris Reimer appears near the middle of the screen, fading out at 00:34.

[00:40]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The overlaid hawk reappears, zoomed in so the wing and torso of the bird block out most of the field, fading out at 00:42.

[00:50]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The cat head doodle overlay reappears near the bottom of the screen, fading out at 00:55. The plane speeds up down the runway and eventually takes off at 01:02.The engines get louder as the plane speeds up and there is added noise from the tires on the tarmac.

[00:56]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The small image of the hawk and sign reappears in the middle of the screen over the runway footage, fading out at 01:01.

[01:02]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The cat head doodle reappears near the middle of the screen, joined quickly by the small image of the hawk and sign, and a small image of a Polaroid photo, scribbled on in red ink. Behind this, the snowy ground drops away as the airplane takes off. The tire sound ends but the engines can still be heard under the music. Flat, snowy farmland and roadways are seen from a distance through the plane window.

[01:27]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The cat head doodle and hawk image disappear, leaving the scribbled Polaroid in the centre of the screen over the snowy landscape. Now visible, the Polaroid is of a stuffed bear tucked into the crook of a bare tree against a pale sky. The plane begins rising over low clouds, obscuring some of the view.

[01:48]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The guitar playing ends.

[01:50]
<v Visual andAudio Descriptions> The plane window footage ends, leaving the Polaroid alone in the middle of a black screen. The Polaroid fades out just before the end of the clip at 01:53.

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