to keep out the neighbors' children
lest footprints mar the proper decorum
of her lily beds,
and a childish shrill
disturb the singing of her caged canary;
and she must keep free of slang
the language of her parrot--
High walls hold the secret to coerce time
to creep by at a snail's pace
while loneliness hears
the high heels of indifference clicking on the streets.
Even compassion fails to notice
when the pattern is broken and the gate left ajar--
She waited--taut was the thread of hope--
only to hear a perfect diction,
"Closed in by the walls of her own griefs."
"Hush!" she said to her parrot and wept.
