Art and poetry on page and stage

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11

Cassandra Seltman

The Making of Americans: Condensed

Families exist. Many know this.

Everywhere something is done. Some one does it. When it is finished, it’s done.

Some do things. In families people do things. Everyone who does things belongs to a family. Everyone does it in a way that’s natural to them. It is not always completely natural. Sometimes it is completely natural and sometimes it’s not.

Some are doing it in a family. There are a lot of people doing things. There are enough, many kinds of them.

If one doesn’t die before they get old, they’ll be old. If they don’t die that means they are still living. If they get old, old becomes part of their identity. This happens when you are approaching old age as well. Everyone who is old has lived in a family. Almost everyone who is old is still in a family.

Some young people repeat what they see someone else in the family do. Older ones repeat also. Almost old ones also repeat. For some, their whole lives are repeating what’s generally done in families.

By the time you die, you’ve lived in a family. The family still exists after a member dies.

Anyone can die. Any family can have someone die and the way it was will be in the past tense. Any family can continue to exist how it is. Any family can change.

There are many families. There have been many families.

Someone is the oldest in a family. Someone is the youngest in a family.

Everyone in a family has at one point been younger than someone else in the family. Everyone is older than someone else. Some have been the oldest in the family.

Some repeat things in families. Some of the repeaters are older than most of the family. Some are younger than most in the family. Some of the repeaters are older than some and younger than others in the family.

Families do things their own way. Sometimes they sustain themselves in that way, and sometimes their ways change. Sometimes people in families do things one way when they are young and then get older and continue doing them that way even though people are now doing things differently.

Everyone in a family knows each other. Everyone in the family doesn’t know that someone else is doing something, and repeating that thing. Everyone in the family is also repeating an act that no one else in the family knows about. Everyone in the family knows that everyone else in the family is repeating a secret act.

Everyone thinks some in the family are not doing certain things. They also think they are doing certain things. Someone in the family needs everyone else to feel certain that they’ll remain part of the family.

Someone in the family needs everyone in the family not to do a specific thing. Someone needs everyone to do a specific thing. Everyone in the family knows when the other members are doing or not doing something.

A member of the family needs to be certain everyone will not do something. A member needs to be certain everyone will do a specific thing.

Old people die. Anyone who gets old enough will die. If one doesn’t die before they have the chance to get old, they will get old and die.

Families have old people in them and they will die.

One member remembers things about the family and then someone else remembers that person who’s remembering.

Many remember families exist. Many remember families can exist. Many remember families can continue to exist.

If everyone in the family dies, and no one new is born, that family ceases to exist. If there are any still alive, there is still a family. Some in the family can become old, and people can expect and remember that. They can remember the expectation of it. If everyone dies, no one remembers anything. Any family that exists has someone that remembers something about it.

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