Sylvia

by Leonard Michaels

Among thousands upon thousands of jobs, none said my name. I wanted to do something. I didn’t want something to do.

Then, from behind long black bangs, her eyes moved, looked at me. The question of what to do with my life was resolved for the next four years.

It would have been easy to leave Sylvia. Had it been difficult, I might have done it.

Repetition, according to religious thinkers, is seriousness. Working, eating, sleeping is repetition. The rising sun, phases of the moon, revolutions of planets and stars – everything in the universe repeats. Everything is ritual. To stop repeating is death – not the reverse.