First Kitchen, Assigned

Yellow floor, fake tile

Sticky, shiny clean.

Deep brown paneling that looked like wood

Yet smooth to the touch, artificial.

Hard-edged counters,

My head knew that.

All the way around the island

A big island in a puddle of a sea

I crawled, played

Watched my mother’s back,

And steam rise from the

Big silver pot on the stove.

The white corner wall was blank on one side.

We built a paper fireplace every winter

For mine and Santa’s sake.

There’s a picture of me, asleep

Curled like a tiny creature with a tough shell

With Lovie, my soft friend;

All the hard toys at rest

Somewhere adrift in a tiny sea

Bullseyed by a big yellow island.