Sick in Bed

by Gwendolyn Jensen

When she was a girl in bed with mumps

or a cold or the chicken pox she'd listen

for the garbage truck, watch

her marbles bump the tabletop,

and drift, a supple stretching-out—

a red balloon let out full far—

she bathed in the warmth of a mind full far

from any thought of school or play,

she'd never know the content of this day.