(from the Summer of Three Foxes)<\/p>\n
It is easier to boil water than it is to freeze it. It is easier to write a poem, pay
\na bill, open a can of tuna, or peel a beet, than it is to read a book that has sat
\ntoo long on the kitchen table. A sandwich is a poor substitute for a husband
\nor lover. The couple ride everywhere together and are seeking a West Coast
\nmiracle that can carry them through a winter and so they can be near their
\nchildren. I don\u2019t know how to repair what is damaged other than to listen and
\nappreciate what you are saying and what you have done. I apologize a lot
\nthese days and try to claim what I am accountable for. You say I am not
\naddressing something, hiding from what is directly in front of me. I am very
\ngood at not doing what I am supposed to be doing. I have a lifetime of
\navoidance, longing, and suppression, enough to found a new religion or
\nsustain one of the old ones. You ask me to think about how to see you in the
\nmidst of obfuscation. Like an asterisk leading to a footnote. This man loves
\nthis person, this flavor ice cream, the hand cut fries, this feeling of calm after
\na good day when many days have not been good, standing outside and looking
\nup at the stars, falling asleep watching old episodes of The X Files with Scully\u2019s
\nwaves of hair and Mulder\u2019s dry obstinacy. It is easier to walk around a large
\npachyderm than it is to identify what we are touching with blindfolded eyes.
\nIt is too early, or maybe it is already too late. What I imagine as a simple thing
\nis really more like cooking mung bean pancakes where the planning and
\npreparation extends for days. The things I see as complex require a gentle
\ntouch, like a hand placed on a chest. A simple act that alters the heart, aligns
\nthe body and mind, frees the discontent to reside elsewhere. At this hour I
\nam not dreaming, I am not touching softness, I am not thinking about the
\nmorning. I am thinking about touching your arm and kissing the softest parts,
\nthe underside of the wrist, the crook of the elbow. I am a distant conversation.
\nI am a distant husband, I am a distant father. Easier still is the body and the
\nsecrets it holds in each of its scars. It feels good to touch me here, and here,
\nand yes, there too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(from the Summer of Three Foxes) It is easier to boil water than it is to freeze it. It is easier to write a poem, pay a bill, open a can of tuna, or peel a beet, than it is to read a book that has sat too long on the kitchen table. A sandwich … Continue reading It is Easier to Boil Water<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"issue":[6876],"class_list":["post-2086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","issue-6876"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 21:48:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=2086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}