Simultaneous Tasks

A spark, light, the flame of the gas stove, the water tap, the full kettle on the flame of the stove. The first minutes of morning. The woman goes back to bed. Vague dreams circle her head. Black snakes, rabid dogs, tangled landscapes. A snarled skein. The tightening of the veins at the temples under the tousled hair... Outside the lonely, bewildered bed the flame is bringing the water to the boiling point on the lit gas. The kettle lid, drumming, dances fast, fast on the kettle — raising the roof! — The woman gets up, out of the bed of night she comes...