Plums. With Coffee

Still Life

Plump plums in white bowl. Nestled. Like lovers spooning. Black coffee steaming.

Character Study

(In Four Acts)

Act I: The Farmer

Seventy degrees at seven a.m. In May. Bill Farmer sweated even with a breeze blowing Mary’s lilac window curtains into the kitchen. The hem brushed across the tin mug where his coffee steamed. Poured fresh from the pan, hobo style, which Mary never stood for when she was home.

Bill leaned against the icebox frame, fingers gripping the edge. Stiff-armed,...