It isn’t that she doesn’t
want to go to the marketplace, if only to buy one small
compliment. She can remember each time she went,
got one, took it
home, put it in
a porcelain cup she kept
beside her bed.
She stopped
going out for fear
of wanting too much to fill
the fragile container,
decorated her house in muted
stripes
and moved onto her bed
a color TV
which she watches
steadily.
She likes the news, especially
the accidents that happen
when people travel too far
from home.
They secure her place.
And when she faces
a scene filled with a good
time, she wanders-
but only in her mind.
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