Cynthia White is a poet in Santa Cruz. Her work has appeared in Poet Lore, Nimrod, and Catamaran. You’ll find three of her poems in ZYZZYVA Issue No. 109. In celebration of the Thanksgiving season, we present her poem “Where Things Stand” in its entirety: 

 I, in the doorway, reporting on the dawn,
you with your coffee. A small bird
is disturbing the quince, its name
forgotten. You, lost
to a book. The children
stand on their own, distant,
brilliant stars. Wild iris
in a jar stand on the table,
the table steadfast
on cherry legs. Chairs stand
empty, generous. We could be
a couple in a Dutch painting, light
cherishing the blue drapery
of my bathrobe, your freckled hand
as it curls around a cup
that belonged to your mother,
her mother before. Husband,
the sun stands on the horizon––
and the darkness.