My grandmother’s snuff bottle
and the stoneware bowl my aunt made
are both ceramic. So’s the space heater
that warms my room like the red star
at the heart of Scorpio. Next in the braid
is the song I made when quite young,
about the constellation Cygnus, which lies
alongside the blue star Vega. Blue like the designs
on the white snuff bottle. The stoneware bowl
is a marbly brown like the tortoiseshell hair clasp
that doesn’t really work with my hair.
Once I fell asleep in the back seat
and when I woke up my grandmother tried
to comb my hair with a tortoiseshell-patterned comb.
All the plastic teeth broke: it was useless. I could
drink cream or pho out of the bowl. The bottle
is useless, though the tiny plastic spoon
that fits in the stopper is quite clever. The blue
designs on the sides are beautiful. The bowl
is beautiful. The stars are beautiful.
Books Available
Dervish Lions
The Day of My First Driving Lesson
Country Well-Known as an Old Nightmare's Stable
High-Voltage Lines
Knocking from Inside
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