Calibrating the Sugar Packets

The quiet rooms had grown predictable, so I rode inside a coat pocket out to a street café. On the round zinc tabletop, someone had left behind a ceramic caddy with paper sugar packets jutting out at reckless, uneven slants. Such erratic angles ruin the line of sight. I climbed onto the metal surface, bracing my boots against the cool swirl pattern. One by one, I drew four rectangular packets out, squared their creased paper edges against the metal tabletop, and reinserted them into the slot at disciplined, equal half-inch intervals. With the paper borders standing plumb and orderly, the patio table finally achieved a coherent axis.