what singleness can bear

Action creates

a taste

for itself.

Meaning: once

you've swept

the shelves

of spoons

and plates

you kept

for guests,

it gets harder

not to also

simplify the larder,

not to dismiss

rooms, not to

divest yourself

of all the chairs

but one, not

to test what

singleness can bear,

once you've begun.

[Kay Ryan, 'That Will to Divest', from The Best of It: New and Selected Poems]