Adventures Never Taken (2006)

Mary watches monkeys at the zoo on Saturdays
And dreams of freedom
Imagining African jungles and South American forests
Thinking of adventures never taken
And roads never traveled
She feels the wind go through her hair
And wishes she were on the open road
Going fast through late-night deserted streets
Sweet summer air she never breathed

Choosing instead buildings cluttered with books
Stale air
Too many people speaking too many self-important words
And facts fell down upon her head like snow
She chose careful words and wove them
Material coming from threads of knowledge
Less experience than she could have had
But she devoured books like a starving girl
And choked out ideas that received nods and smiles
Giving up the future she dreamt of like flowers

But flowers die, and knowledge clings on
And she still glimpses a shadow of her former self
Clawing at the inside of her mind with neatly trimmed dirty fingernails
Years later she lingers alone, dressed conservatively
Remembering choices she made years before
As she watches monkeys at the zoo on Saturdays