A Gentle Balance

A wooden clothespin had caught awkwardly across the rim of an empty glass jar on the coffee table, wobbling on its spring. I walked up to it and rested my hands on the glass to judge the angle. Gripping the dry pine peg with both arms, I gave it a slow, deliberate pinch until the tension eased. I turned it around and clipped it securely over the jar's folded paper label, flat and straight. The glass held still, and everything settled into place.