I know of a small town girl with dreams of
red carpets and theater hits, maybe
shelves out of stock from bottom to top
or halls with framed portraits of the sea—
the crowds drowning, washed away
to worlds that words can not portray

A shame, she grew, this brilliant girl
stuck between youthful dreams,
and the violent whirl
of what to do and where to pluck
the food to fill her empty gut