Imperfectly to be known

Not just the delicate temporary touching down from the air, unknowingly populated skyline, and fingerprint just inside the barrier that margins you off from the dead,

Reconstructed from https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014717789/. George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.

but even the defacing scratches and spots on the record itself. For a brief intermission between oblivions, the ordinary is perceived. A moment too late after that, it is understood to have been extraordinary.