last night
putting away my stoneware and "silver"
I realized
they'd been in my service
35 years
since my first apartment
a couple chips on plate and bowl
one has a stain
the shape of lips
a missing fork or two
three coffee cups sized for a doll house
think about it
all the times the spoons and forks
in and out of my mouth
bowls crusted with yesterday's oatmeal
times 35 years
one thousand six hundred seventy weeks
such a long relationship
with things appreciated but not loved:
I'm not into kitchen stuff
useful my criteria for utensil beauty
if I loved eating tools
would likely have replaced them all
by now
many times
