It’s easy to feel like a whore
in here.
Fisherman, potato farmers
go in and out
and the plumbing whistles all night.
The venetian blind falls down,
the kitchen drain backs up.
I pay for what I eat.
Female
generosity, that’s what it is,
trouble every time,
and the goddamn plumbing whistles
all night.
- from “Journey” by Kathleen Norris