At the table

"There's a certain tenderness in bananas"
(Mercy, Esther Altshul Helfgott)

When the walls pray down a blessing
all of a sudden without any annunciations
or angels or even the sun coming out
with some special brightness for breakfast

you weren't expecting much more
than clearing the table and now
the table's gleaming, the milk
whiter than it was before; the spoons
stretch out silvery, strong enough to show
your face lifting, surprised; your two
almost empty bowls are so round

they embrace each last piece of fruit; the book-
shelves swell fuller, their books' bindings
benevolent, as if they're noticing
him, too, his face calm, serene as he clears his throat
again over what he's noticing, the mercy,
the prayers, this room.

- puah