Downsizing

Pinched Within Borders

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Downsizing

She has only one room
plus a closet and bath.

A few dresses hang with
her robes.

On the sink there are balls
of lavender soap.

Everything smells of new carpet
and fresh painted walls,

bright lemon yellow
to welcome the sun.

A painting of where she grew up
hangs by her Jenny Lind bed.

A lazy recliner sits next to
her window. There are birds

in the maples and people
parading to cars in the lot.

She doesn’t expect to have
visitors, except for a sister

she would rather
not bother.

In an hour the dining hall
will serve up a family style meal.

Until then she digs in a shoe box
that’s been sealed shut for years,

reads notes from a boy
she left at the altar,

written when
they were in high school

and bundled
with brittle rubber bands.

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