What It's Like Living Here (Written after Dick Lourie's What It's Like Living In Ithaca, New York)

Here's what it's like: You wake up every day in the same small room.
You have everything you need or want.
You never even notice the door until
one day
you hear there are other rooms somewhere.
But when you try the door, it's locked.
So you put it out of your mind, because,
after all,
everything's fine inside that room.
But one day someone hands you they key
and tells you it's okay to leave. So you do.
You unlock that door and walk out, and everything that wasn't in that one small room is out here.
You can't tell if you like it, but you dont like the unfamiliarity, so you head back to your room,
but people look at you as you walk, as if saying, "What? It's not good enough for you out here?"
You try to shake it off -
"It's nothing, really" -
and you make it back.
But even in your room, sounds from the outside penetrate the wall,
shocking sounds,
and you know that someday, you'll have to go out there again,
maybe for good.
That's what it's like living here.