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...tarnishes, oxidizes, and crumbles from solid black into soiled red. Without air, we cannot take this color; without light, we do not know it. The stone must have breath before it can give blood. The transubstantiation from sediment to dye requires binding—a liquid—a water which might bring life. However, the water too is forever fleeting. It cradles and carries our pigment, but soon sees sun and vanishes, leaving behind a fractured crust of newborn light.

Date: February 2020
Length: 500 words

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