Deep into a revision of The Ghosts Who Travel with Me, I wrote a short essay about my struggles with introducing my partner, Arline, and myself as the book opened. The result is “What to Pack,” which has now appeared in Waxwing, a gorgeous journal whose mission is to promote “the tremendous cultural diversity of contemporary American literature, alongside international voices in translation.” My gratitude to editor Erin Stalcup, who made a great suggestion for improving it.