Designing for one

A little thing happened

during computer class, but we were in the library
(new tile being glued down in the computer lab)
on the laptops - a wicked boring day -
so we were playing games.

The boys I sat next to were designing
with Frank Lloyd Wright studio,
so I joined them on my own laptop.
It had been a while since I designed.

My student, with the most incredible head of hair,
a loose curly afro, guided me through a few
screens I had shown him a year ago.
I skipped the frills, just worked the floor plan.

After ten minutes the bell rang. We left.
I walked to lunch with a fellow designer.
He said that today he had chosen a teenage boy
as his client, instead of a lawyer or an ambassador,

He said, "It was fun designing for a regular person,
rotating in double hung windows for one."
I did the same thing, and focused on doorways
and whether I wanted a library or a rec room.

We both found pleasure in designing the basics
(a deep satisfaction we had not known)
of this plan without the highest ceiling,
without artglass windows, without being atop a cliff.