Gravity Test

It edged away from the chipped laminate

while I stood there holding the towel,

a witness to the sudden, heavy tilt.

I didn't reach out. I didn't even flinch.

There is a peace in watching a thing decide

to stop being whole.

The ceramic hit the floor with a sound like a shot,

sending a dark, steaming puddle across the linoleum.

The handle was the only thing that survived,

a white, jagged ear spinning in the mess

until it ran out of momentum

and stayed exactly where it landed.