Seeing is everything

Her restless energy brews like coffee
percolating on the Formica counter
Cold steel appliances appear life-like
The smell of roasted beans waft through her hair

Breakfast plates neatly placed on a plastic tablecloth
accompanied by a spoon, knife and fork
A holy trinity to keep the order
Everything is as it should be

Except
Her housecoat is bleached, stripped of color
Tide gets the stains out
The family sized Corn Flakes box mocks her
reminding her of a familiarity no longer her own
Her fingers itch for a cigarette
The smell of smoke a distant memory

She holds still in front of the kitchen window
a mannequin in a storefront,
a widow with a living husband,
Frozen like Bird's Eye peas

Clouds stand still
Shirts flap and fight to escape
the clutches of wooden clothing pins
Everything is the same,
except her eyes.