Wore grandma’s pearls on my first day teaching Suspended Language irl. I can’t believe it’s been a month already. I feel her softly and free. Like infinite. All over. Like from hometown to sky to earth. I remember she pronounced sink with a “z.” Zink and I thought it sounded so cool so I would say it quietly to myself. Zink Zink zink. Over and over again. Zink. The place where she washed greens and turnips and peas before they got snapped. Zink. Where Ma washed her hair on Saturdays. Zink. Where she washed a pork chop for me the last time she cooked for me when Daddy passed. Zink. Where she hated keeping the water running for no reason. “That’s wasteful.” I can see her mouth shaping the word in the only way she would say it and nobody else. Zzzsss flowing all over the kitchen into my ear.