Ritual
Lately I’ve felt shame sliding slowly off me, like an old heavy coat. Wearing this has been long been painful; I hadn’t even noticed. This morning I looked at the kitchen drain, clogged as it is every morning with grains of rice, bits of porridge, a lemon seed. I fish out tiny slices of onion that have made their way from earth to grocery cart to chopping board. I look at that drain a hundred times a day. But today I focused on a small screw, and using a kitchen knife I pulle