The Butter Block

I noticed the ceramic butter dish on the kitchen counter this morning. Someone had scraped off a portion at an irregular, thirty-five-degree slant. An asymmetrical wedge does not melt evenly. I approached with my paring knife. The freshly stropped edge required no sawing. Bracing my footing against the marble surface, I aligned the blade precisely five millimeters behind the slope. I pushed straight downward with steady, uncompromising weight. The chilled block yielded with a muffled slide. The uneven fragment detached cleanly. Now the butter stands as an exact rectangular prism, its perimeter flush with the porcelain rim. The morning table is calibrated.