Silence (almost). The fridge hums a little whir and the electric burners on the flat, glass-top stove cycle on and off – click (silence, pause, breath) click. The big pan sizzles when the teardrop of batter flattens then bubbles, flips and browns. The coffee belches and sighs – too early to be that tired.

The sun peeks through the marble gray and quickly slinks back into hiding. There’s a squinting brightness to the day, a washed-out light that almost hurts. On the thin-limbed end of the barren maple tree, two clusters of helicopters dangle and sway in the wind – a small sign of determined resilience.

The worn, smudged area on the collar of the black coat reminds me I should have it dry-cleaned. Pocket  torn, maybe I should get a new one. I try to remember an old commercial: ring around the collar.  The rabbit hole stops at Spic and Span and Calgon before arriving at Wisk.

Skip fraud cheat lie ignore neglect phony trick swindle phone in fake it dummy text bogus string of words that all relate to not getting around to my daily fifty-two. This is what happens when I don’t get it done before work when my mind is fresh and my time less interrupted.

Monkey mind swings from thought to thought, grabbing each branch just long enough and then letting go. Board meeting tomorrow. I should write my fifty-two words. Should I get a drop-in visit for the dog so I can go out after work on Friday? I should write about the news I’ve been…

A power outage plunges the shopping centers on both sides of the street into darkness. Men with orange traffic wands wave cars through intersections where the signals have gone out. River home, river home to where I have power, light, heat, and a hungry dog who never asks how my drive was.

Jhiub oifihn ji llojhh kslor. Hfuhgn awtckf ksi ofpmaw kfiwh, ifdig – ofjiu jfojguu hu hgsgt ogmiw…. What are words, anyway? Lirg ughubs vcmb kai, jigu gaet hckow sertyut. Disproportionate use of the letters j, g, u, h, and k. Hawserdt bsert hst ggasu  – popoiu huyjl loacsg wertre. What are words, anyway?

The cloudy dog nose streaks on the window look different than cat nose streaks did. The dog leaves long slobbery smears, thick, thin, messy, and crude – an excitement like childhood finger paints. The cats left orderly lines of tiny boops – individual nose prints spelled out like dot and dash Morse code.

There are no teeth in the kitchen. No bellies waiting to be filled. There are no hands grasping for the milk or sudsing dishes. There are no feet padding across the hardwood floor. There are no knees bending for way back pots – no tippy-toes looking for the cinnamon on the high shelf.

The blue-white light of the computer glow punctures the dark room. The cursor flashes hungry. The music is low and the dog has flattened himself on the floor at my feet. Nothing comes to me: not the way the spindly dumb cane droops. Nor the sound of the heat pump kicking on.