Page 55 of The Secret to Belonging

who praises how fint it is and how flink you are

she immediately displays it on the kitchen table

tells everyone who visits it was handmade by you

you are often the first one home after school

so it’s your job to start the potatoes and carrots

Bjørn comes in with fresh fish from the harbor

and prepares the rest of the middag meal

Lise and Erik tumble in next and by the time

Elinor arrives, dinner is ready

the table is set with linens and flowers

each place with a saucer for fish bones and skin

food has a culture and fluency all its own

after middag each day

everyone goes upstairs to rest

Lise and Erik read or do homework

you suspect Elinor and Bjørn make love

sometimes you nap

(often you nap)

sometimes you write to Maura or Alison

read John Cheever, John Irving, John Updike

(there are many Johns on the English wall of the library)

sometimes you gaze out the window

at the darkening sky

you’ve never experienced seasons before

the garden responds to the changing

light and temperature

California seems dull and predictable

the planet is more marvelous

than you ever imagined

you wake to white and cold