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 Things by Lisel Mueller 
						What happened is, we grew lonelyliving among the things,
 so we gave the clock a face,
 the chair a back,
 the table four stout legs
 which will never suffer fatigue.
 
 We fitted our shoes with tongues
 as smooth as our own
 and hung tongues inside bells
 so we could listen
 to their emotional language,
 
 and because we loved graceful profiles
 the pitcher received a lip,
 the bottle a long, slender neck.
 
 Even what was beyond us
 was recast in our image;
 we gave the country a heart,
 the storm an eye,
 the cave a mouth
 so we could pass into safety.
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