Caleb Klaces – A Hesitation

 

Caleb Klaces
A Hesitation


Asking staff the origin of her coffee, she was delayed as long
as would indicate the position and not so long as to risk
appearing rude to the Annex Six Session on the Equitable Provision of Water in Southern States,
so there was no one to see her hesitate with the door handle.

If there had been, they would have seen the same thing as this.
Everything she did looked like a reason for doing it,
no different if it was only her looking. The other reasons

she looked like she was making no effort to hide either,
wherever they were. This hesitation behind the door
meant to suggest the outcome was not certain. Her blue eyes,

which lay far back in her head, had been described
in someone else’s autobiography as like great paintings
stored down a mine, sensibly put there for safe-keeping
until things blew over — but which had been forgotten about.

This description she thought flattered her and her eyes
and was also implausible. The position was simply there was more
than enough water for Southern States in Southern States.