Identical (2 page)

Don’t you think?

I mean, if the Supreme

Being inserts a single soul

at the moment of conception,

does that essence divide

itself? Does each half then

strive to become whole

again, like a starfish

or an earthworm?

Or might the soul clone itself,

create a perfect imitation

of something yet to be

defined? In this way,

can a reflection be altered?

Or does the Maker,

in fact, choose

to place two

separate souls within

a single cell, to spark

the skirmish that ultimately

causes such an unlikely rift?

Do twins begin in the womb?

Or in a better place?

We live in a smug California

valley. Rolling ranch land, surrounded

by shrugs of oak-jeweled hills.

Green for two brilliant

months sometime around spring,

burnt-toast brown the rest of the year.

Just over an unremarkable mountain

stretches the endless Pacific.

Mornings here come wrapped

in droops of gray mist.

Most days it burns off by noon.

Other days it just hangs on

and on. Smothers like a wet blanket.

Three towns triangulate

the valley, three corners, each

with a unique flavor:

weathered Old West;

antiques and wine tasting;

just-off-the-freeway boring.

Smack in the center is the town

where we live, and it is the most

unique of all, with its windmills

and cobbled sidewalks, designed

to carry tourists to Denmark.

Denmark, California-style.

The houses line smooth black

streets, prim rows

of postcard-pretty dwellings,

coiffed and manicured from curb

to chimney. Like Kaeleigh

and me, they’re perfect

on the outside. But behind

the Norman Rockwell facades,

each holds its secrets.