An Exercise While Reading the News

Half full. The glass

Globes dangle uselessly—

High and dry. The switch is submerged.

The careful negotiations

Between quality and cost, between

The trappings of your childhood

And his, between pantone swatches and

That rarely-sounded piano, such a difficult

Stain of wood to match—

Engulfed. Overwhelmed.

Relentless water laps up the lists,

The receipts, the returns, the written

Proof, leaves a skim of oil and silt and

Spores spreading fingers up

All the walls.

The glass globes swing

In the half full room.