--- H A L V A R D   J O H N S O N

        "if we slowly approach a surface of water
         with our finger we often deceive ourselves
         about when we are wet       a patient may feel
         the surgeon's scalpel while it is still a
         slight distance away"
                --David Antin, "Meditation 12"

When we come home, we often deceive ourselves about
when we actually get there. The door to the house

presents itself as an actual fact. Our key retracts
first the dead bolt and then the latch bolt and our

entrance becomes suddenly possible. We feel we are home
even before grasping the doorknob and leaning

our shoulder against the shutting stile, knowing full
well the door's slight reluctance to open

in hot, humid weather. We dimly see a hallway through
the opaque glass. We know that on the bookcase

there by the door, the cat is waiting.