You Who Never Arrived
And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors
were still dizzy with your presence and, startled,
gave back my too-sudden image .…
–from “You Who Never Arrived,” Rainer Maria Rilke
I’m back in my hometown visiting friends for a wedding, and I stop at the supermarket to pick up avocados and limes, and I see–there across the produce section rummaging among the lettuces–myself. I’m buying iceberg lettuce–or rather, the other me is buying iceberg. This me prefers more exotic varieties: Boston or Bibb.