ONE MORNING AT THE DESK

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

One morning he sat down at his desk and made a list of all the things that were inconsequential. It was long—longer, he imagined, than the list of the things that were consequential. He obtained a mental picture of himself composing the consequential list. In it, he was still sitting at his desk. It was still morning. A red bird was perched on a tree outside the window; he turned his head and saw the same bird on the same tree. He focused in on the center of the mental picture, which was occupied by his face, and paid special attention to his expression, to the way the muscles around his mouth were set, to the cast of his eyes and the nature of the light in them. He was searching for signs of happiness. He found none.