"Red Pears", oil on canvas, by Cathleen Rehfeld

 

PERFECTION

 

He looks for it

in the folds of his blankets,

and in the first display

of water from the faucet.

It’s there at six

in his comforting cup of coffee

and in the satisfying light

of his computer screen.

It’s in his perfectly old car

as he carefully brings it to school.

He sees it in the precise trees,

and in the houses that sit

composedly beside each other.

He never fails to find perfection

folded up among his lesson plans

and displaying itself

in the words of his scholars.

It’s in the peacefulness

of his sliced peppers at lunch,

and in the red pear

proudly sitting on his desk.