Maybe she feels trapped, a solitary gerbil living
in a wire cage, with a bed of straw she can nibble at
until it’s gone, and a spinning wheel that goes
nowhere, where her feet get caught in the fast
spinning spokes and break.
Maybe she meets someone who opens the cage door
and gives her the key, who lets her knit her own bed,
who plays with her on the wheel and shows her how
to get her feet unstuck so that she can leave at her wish.
Maybe that’s why she chooses to stay,
no more a gerbil, captive in a cage.