Recipe for a Room

Saint Paul, 15 October 2006

Following is a recipe for a room:

Stake a family-sized screened tent

in a sheltered corner of the yard

Arrange hand-made cedar garden chairs

to define the interior of the tent

Have your spouse cobble two end tables

from rope and seasoned ash cordwood

Reuse an old bottle by filling it with cut flowers

Place it on one table and put candles on both

Spend your summer listening and watching

Alone and with others

Come October when you’ve bagged all the leaves

un-stake the tent then lift it up off the chairs

Notice a room laid bare is still a room