well

it took us a few years to do it
but yesterday we finally got to it
we decorated the downstairs toilet

the old colour was candy apple red
and we desperately wanted something more relaxing instead
anyway, the walls were all spotted with mould
so we got two litres of brilliant white and on we rolled

There are shelves in there so we painted them too
white like the walls so they looked brand new
and threw out all the old books we never used
and talked about balance and elements
and freed two shelves for ornaments

I found a few things on the windowsill
like this old, glass vase partially filled
with lacquered red and yellow goose quills
dad’s dad used to use for fishing
and then dad too, and sometimes I’d go with him
and we’d sit on the riverbank in the bright sunlight
and silently wait for the fish to bite

I saw the floats now on the newly painted shelf
and had a sudden, dizzying view of myself
a thrill of nylon line playing out forever
a yellow goose quill float sliding by in the river