listen
My teacher is seated at a round table in a kitchen that seems enclosed but really extends into the world beyond where there are trees and also a small dirt path Winding to the left with a young girl walking on it. I am on the phone with my mom. I seem to be so preoccupied with a very superficial conversation that I am ignoring my teacher's presence. I am almost "acting" the part of a conversation, laughing loudly and appearing very interested in the nonsense I am talking about. When I hang up the phone I apologize for not noticing that she was waiting for me. The apology is too profuse, almost put on and overdone. My teacher says nothing but begins opening a white bag in which are small objects wrapped in white tissue. I am so preoccupied with my apology (which even to me sounds disingenuous) that I never see any of these gifts unwrapped. My teacher doesn't leave. She sits at the table. She isn't impatient nor irritated but I think ...