Eden M. Kennedy

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Hardware

I was in Restoration Hardware the other day looking for knobs to put on the cabinet underneath the bathroom sink. Restoration Hardware has the best knobs. They have knobs in the shape of garden tools, leaves, letters of the alphabet, you name it. Brass, copper, glass, enamel. My husband was looking for a knob to use as a pull for the glove compartment on his '57 Ford flatbed truck. The glove doesn't lock or anything, it just has a spring action to keep it open or shut. He found a little hammer-shaped knob. It's perfect for a work truck. All this reminds me of a poem by Wallace Stevens.

The Emperor of Ice-Cream

Call the roller of big cigars,

The muscular one, and bid him whip

In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.

Let the wenches dawdle in such dress

As they are used to wear, and let the boys

Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.

Let be be the finale of seem.

The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,

Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet

On which she embroidered fantails once,

and spread it so as to cover her face.

If her horny feet protrude, they come

To show how cold she is, and dumb.

Let the lamp affix its beam.

The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.