Without the Sun We Wouldn't Know Love by Felicity Fenton
Managing Editor Randi Clemens on today’s bonus essay: Fenton's list of what we wouldn't know without the sun begins biological and grows to places that turn my expectations. This short essay had me laughing at the thought of not knowing McDonald's and broke my heart at the thought of a world without those cackles. Though, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I often feel like I live in a world without sun, this piece shows me how much I hope I never truly have to.
Without The Sun We Wouldn’t Know Love
And without the sun we wouldn’t know red soils, or black soils, or alluvial soils, or peaty soils. We wouldn’t know baobabs, or wisterias, or rainbow eucalyptus, or dragon's bloods. We wouldn’t know apple moss, or fern moss, or screw moss, or elf-cap moss. We wouldn’t know cylindrotheca, or odontella, or eucampia, or stephanopyxis. We wouldn’t know sea pen, or blue coral, or stag horn coral, or leptopsammia. We wouldn’t know ranunculus, or begonias, or dahlias, or yellow zinnias. We wouldn’t know volcanic ash, or ooid sand, or greensand, or desert. We wouldn’t know Krakatoa, or Stromboli, or Mayon, or St. Helens. We wouldn’t know black slugs, or leopard slugs, or kerry slugs, or yellow slugs. We wouldn’t know eurasian siskins, or carduelises, or common redpolls, or evening grosbeaks. We wouldn’t know haden mangoes, or kent mangoes, or palmer mangoes, or francis mangoes. We wouldn’t know Nigerian Dwarf goats, or Angora goats, or Barbari goats, or Appenzell goats. We wouldn’t know spelt, or emmer, or triticale, or einkorn. We wouldn’t know the front crawl, or the side stroke, or the butterfly stroke, or backstroke. We wouldn’t know missionary style, or doggy style, or spooning, or reverse cowgirl. We wouldn’t know a belly laugh, or a deep chortle, or a cackle, or a giggle. We wouldn’t know agoraphobia, or claustrophobia, or pteromerhanophobia, or astraphobia. We wouldn’t know whiskey, or rum, or vodka, or gin. We wouldn’t know hospitality and tourism, or education and training, or manufacturing, or bio-technology. We wouldn’t know Elavil (amitriptyline), or Norpramin (desipramine), or Asendin (amoxapine), or Anafranil (clomipramine). We wouldn’t know a unit of account, or a store of value, or a medium of exchange, or a standard of deferred payment. We wouldn’t know situational poverty, or generational poverty, or rural poverty, or absolute poverty. We wouldn’t know fame by achievement, or fame by chance, or fame by political appointment, or fame by association. We wouldn’t know communion, or supplication, or intercession, or spiritual warfare. We wouldn’t know polyvinyl chloride, or low-density polyethylene, or polypropylene, or styrofoam. We wouldn’t know McDonald’s, or Taco John’s, or Arby’s, or Subway. We wouldn’t know trousers, or denim, or khakis, or sweatpants. We wouldn’t know Greco-Roman, or judo, or sombo, or professional wrestling. We wouldn’t know labiaplasty, or dermabrasion, or liposuction, or flap. We wouldn’t know egoistic suicide, or altruistic suicide, or anomic suicide, or fatalistic suicide. We wouldn’t know Rama, or Varuna, or Vishnu, or Surya. We wouldn’t know Chewbacca, or Princess Leia, or Darth Vader, or Yoda. We wouldn’t know daydreams, or lucid dreams, or nightmares, or false awakenings. We wouldn’t know Halley comets, or Jupiter comets, or Kreutz sungrazers, or Meyer comets. We wouldn’t know general or yes or no questions, or multiple choice questions, or hypothetical questions, or questions using what or who or when or how or what or why.
Felicity Fenton’s multidisciplinary work (social practice, photography, installation) has been exhibited in public and private spaces around the globe. Her stories and essays have been featured in Fanzine, Split Lip Press, Wigleaf, The Iowa Review, Pidgeonholes, The Denver Quarterly, and The Masters Review. Her book User Not Found was published by Future Tense Books in December 2018. By day she works as a Creative Director and is also a Radio Host at Freeform Portland. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
