One book about the way things were,
and five books about how things could be
for a moment, when the photographer pushes
the last bottle of San Pellegrino onto the shelf,
rotates it into perfect order,
steps down, and snaps the picture.
Or maybe he has an assistant, so he doesn’t have to step down.
In the one book, he talks about washing and drying the knives,
coating them in tallow, wrapping them up,
storing them,
getting them out for the next meal, washing off the tallow,
and using them.
This one book is all it takes to make me perfectly content with my kitchen.