From the day book
Morning
First cups, short walks, and the list for the day.
The kettle goes on first
Before the radio, before the phone, before the list: the red kettle and the four minutes it takes to boil.
Toast, black coffee, the floral cloth
A breakfast that has not changed in three years, and the tablecloth that makes it feel like an occasion anyway.
Seven o’clock at the kitchen window
The cutting in the bottle has grown three roots. The page for the day gets written beside it, in pencil, before seven fifteen.
