{"id":794,"date":"2012-06-18T10:54:16","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T17:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sporkpress.com\/fiction\/?p=794"},"modified":"2012-06-18T10:54:16","modified_gmt":"2012-06-18T17:54:16","slug":"knots-by-sam-ramos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/2012\/06\/18\/knots-by-sam-ramos\/","title":{"rendered":"Knots by Sam Ramos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The True Lovers, or Fisherman\u2019s Knot<\/strong><\/em>
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\nTwo lengths of rope are held against each other. They are intimate. In the depths of a storm the wind may torment them, but they will not be set free. The bond is infinite.
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\nTo loosen: Hold underwater until swollen with fluid. Pull from both ends to disintegrate.
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\nThe Bell<\/em><\/strong>
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\nAn elegant knot found in sentimental places. It was invented by monks to hold barrels of wine to carts, as well as to secure vellum when it was scraped and pulled. The vellum was then used to make holy books. It carried gold leaf well \u2013 and lapis \u2013 without their fading.
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\nPope Alexander II stayed up late reading military histories. Christian warriors sang his praises and departed to make Jerusalem free.
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\nCenturies later a young priest recovered a knot almost turned to dust in the Vatican library, with the Pope\u2019s seal.
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\nTo loosen: Let sit, alone, for hours.
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\nMors du Cheval<\/em><\/strong>
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\nA knot used exclusively in horse racing. It is used for the bit, also for the saddle, and, too, for the breaking of foals.
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\nAt the races a board displayed the winners and losers as well as the times. A boy sweated into the palm of a girl, who coughed. The girl, no older than seventeen, was pink in the face, and squinted from the sun. The heat invaded her dress and the wide-brimmed hat she wore provided no relief. Several rows away a vendor sold cigars. Well-tailored men raised their hands to get his attention. A collection of guarded, indifferent eyes looked on.
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\nWhen she was a child her parents took her to the races. She watched a horse named The Pride of Olympus. The Pride of Olympus stood tall and red, his eyes a deep, liquid brown. She clasped her hands against the rail as The Pride of Olympus was led from his paddock by a length of rope, which was attached at the neck by the Mors du Cheval.
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\nAfter the Pride of Olympus lost the girl put her face in the boy\u2019s shoulder and cried. He thought she laughed. He smiled and patted her back. He rested his palm on her damp back and he frowned while she laughed. Meanwhile the girl was almost sobbing.
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\nTo loosen: Pull the foal\u2019s front feet down. Once the head and shoulders are clear, pull straight out along the mare\u2019s spine.
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\nThe Alpine Butterfly<\/em><\/strong>
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\nThe Alpine Butterfly does not prefer sun-drenched mountains or valleys that are green as jade. It does not carouse with village girls or Swiss laundresses. It does not ever lower buckets into wells.
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\nTwo men were lost on a steep climb and stopped to rest in a cave. They built a fire safe from the wind. By morning one had frozen to death and the new lover grieved.
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\nYellow mist crawled over the gray exterior. A soldier put his mask on as the gas overflowed his trench.
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\nIt does not float on warm breezes.
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\nIt does not want to put its feet in the water.
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\nIt does not want to be sung to.
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\nIt does not want to be cradled to sleep.
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\nThe Alpine Butterfly does not bear them away.
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\nTo loosen: Cut with a knife.
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\nThe Water Knot<\/em><\/strong>
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\nThe Water Knot is used in the ocean \u2013 in the deep with the whales. It can make a net, and then a dam, to hold the water back.
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\nThe Water Knot can be made from water.
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\nA Water Knot is not unraveled in the wave.
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\nTo loosen: This is not impossible.
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\nThe Simple Noose<\/em><\/strong>
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\nThe Simple Noose is the most basic of knots. It succeeds where the mob and photograph do not (It was common during a lynching for participants or witnesses (a witness is also a participant) to photograph the mob and the victim.). Often, postcards were made for distribution.
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