they stood around a box
which lay upon a table
the box was polished maple
with two sides open
like a diorama or
a model of a stage
each poured a handful
of white sand in the box
X made one pile off to the side
Y placed small piles diagonal to the walls
Z strew the sand randomly like fairy dust
they observed the box
and surreptitiously each other
Y then methodically scattered four
small cylindrical rocks
around her piles of sand
X chose a large round stone
and laid it on his sand pile
like an egg on a nest
Z took a thin flat oval stone
and set it teasingly on top of X’s
Y watched what was there
for a moment
and walked away
pleased
Z laughed
danced in a circle
then cried
X wondered what it all meant
(April 2012)
