image or detail (inspired by Rick Barot) -

It turns out there’s a difference between an image and a detail.

Like the detail I text Bryan of Tuffy sticking out his little tongue.

But the image is the Friday trip he took to the pet hospital, the blue cloth wrapped around his right front leg where he got his injection, and the anesthesia wearing off his small frame to the point he doesn’t realize his little tongue is hanging, just jutting, past his lips.

A detail can be the way I wake up in the middle of the night, on the couch, after several rounds of drinks.

The image that will stick with me though is the folded figure at the end of the couch. Of Bryan giving my short body the most real estate while he occupies the L, a section that’s half his length. I crawl over to see Tuffy curled by his side, and I whisper, “Let’s go to bed.”

The details are makers in time that play a part of the scene.

The image is bottled time. The sum of the shadows, the smells, the dawning realizations, and the way I feel in the moment.

Details are vivid, but images are replayed.

There’s a detail of my mom giving me a call.

Then there’s the image of me sharing more than I usually do. In my stress, in my selfish worries. And there’s the way my mom responds to it. That leaves my heart feeling warm and cared for.

I hold on to the details but I try to capture and convey that image for you to see, to hear, to feel.