Somewhere in between mouthfuls I look up. I look up and catch your eyes across the table. Mid-air, hovering wet. Break. Break. With a breath I pluck them both, scoop them up from somewhere above the water pitcher, and put them in my pocket safe. Blinking, we continue. – Punch…

the air swam a little different in the days following the fire as though held in a state of impassioned disbelief an imposed shock or awe – in breath not quite lost but caught – by oils, and the scene of now blackened embers, charred brick beams of the roof…