EmmanUelle Post
Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Going To Murder Her, Season Four
The act of restoring black and white film to color was once done entirely by hand.
Technicians in coats sat in an assembly line, each one armed with their color pen.
A person sat hunched over a pen and a screen,
as their pen touched the surface, the pixel they chose
changed completely and forever.
The technicians sat watching Lucy,
as she tied one large skillet over the front of her body,
and then draped a cookie sheet over her backside
because she spent her allowance and thought Ricky was going to shoot her.
The person with the gunmetal pen colored the pans grey
as Lucy emerged from her hiding place
like a shamed child.
And as we sat as shamed children,
my brother and sister and I in our big tshirts over our knees,
watching Lucy emerge from her hiding place
in the armor she crafted for herself from what she kept in her kitchen.
How could we trust that her dress was actually mint green and not maroon--
how could we ever learn to trust the color of anything?
The act of restoring black and white film to color was once done entirely by hand.
So there must have been, surely, a chance to intervene.
A chance to play with the minds of the children sneaking downstairs at night
to watch Lucy and her funny faces
run from Ricky and his big suits
These were small gods
shining briefly in the American story
who had the power to revive a dead woman.
The act of restoring black and white film to color was once done entirely by hand.
Technicians in coats sat in an assembly line, each one armed with their color pen.
A person sat hunched over a pen and a screen,
as their pen touched the surface, the pixel they chose
changed completely and forever.
The technicians sat watching Lucy,
as she tied one large skillet over the front of her body,
and then draped a cookie sheet over her backside
because she spent her allowance and thought Ricky was going to shoot her.
The person with the gunmetal pen colored the pans grey
as Lucy emerged from her hiding place
like a shamed child.
And as we sat as shamed children,
my brother and sister and I in our big tshirts over our knees,
watching Lucy emerge from her hiding place
in the armor she crafted for herself from what she kept in her kitchen.
How could we trust that her dress was actually mint green and not maroon--
how could we ever learn to trust the color of anything?
The act of restoring black and white film to color was once done entirely by hand.
So there must have been, surely, a chance to intervene.
A chance to play with the minds of the children sneaking downstairs at night
to watch Lucy and her funny faces
run from Ricky and his big suits
These were small gods
shining briefly in the American story
who had the power to revive a dead woman.
Emmanuelle Post is a writer from North Carolina.