Except for Being, It Was Relatively Painless

It was relatively painless except for being

all she could see: a world made of dinner, very pleasant; a lunch

at something called a table in the dining room; an endless night;

a half-day; another lunch, this on Tuesday. Yesterday. Today.

Pieces propped up with supports. The therapist tapped his cigar.

He no longer accepted her general opposition to myth, marriage,

Olympic Games, and the course of decades. He said it was as if

she were engaged in an eternal war, either watching a movie

or acting in one, depending on the situation and time of day.

She sat in silence, the sky above a half-baked blue, a blank-

face dying of awkwardness. The simple explanation boiled down

to the too-easy explanation. He was smart and charming then;

and later, much less so. Behind his head, pictures were crammed

together with the top layer hung so high she had to crane her neck

to see the details. He said to please pretend she was listening.

Source: The Last Two Seconds (Graywolf Press, 2015)