*

*

Barrels the senses

Bewilders the eyes

Figures of clay, fabric, metal

Blue ceramic dog

Mechanical pecking chicken

Gray mouse in a red jacket

Ugandan woman under an umbrella

*

Containers, bags, boxes of

Doll body parts

Cloth from Thailand

Buttons in tins

Beads from ancient Morocco,

Nigeria, India, Mexico

Tinkle and rattle like mini maracas

*

Stacks of mysterious papers

Not to be moved

A secret filing system

Shelves packed with books,

Her travel journals

And the walls—a museum

Of prints and paintings

The strawberry picking migrants

In their straw hats

Tree of life tapestry

Embroidered gold birds

*

She bought what charmed her,

traded her art for collections of

Intricate buttons, filigree silver

Venetian glass, mother of pearl

She tried to feed

the dark hunger

that vacuum of terror

near her heart

*

One more clay rabbit

One more cloisonné pendant

How do you fill a space

the exact shape of God?