In the Event

Creaky, crazy achy bones
Could quiet down a little
After sleeping late,

Enough for body to rise,
Daily Lazarus,
Fix breakfast for young daughter

And her fox-faced black kitten
Named Mouse, exchange jokes
About laziness,

Daughter’s preference
For a fantasy cabin
With its great bed “a bubble

Of invincible blankets,”
As she said, then make black tea
Rich with honey and lemon,

Settle down in the front room
To read centuries-old poems
In facing-page translations,

And consider time dancing
While, in the white summer light
Of this north-most morning sun

A lavender vase
Full of pale, massive pom-poms
Of peonies cut from stems

That had been too weak
To hold their heavy-headed
Blossoms off the grass

Stands, a bouquet of full moons
In spheres of four dimensions
On a high, pine countertop.