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More poems by Alice WalkerAlice Walker | Print this page.Print | View and Write CommentsComments | Books by Alice WalkerBooks by Alice Walker

Expect Nothing

Alice Walker

Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.

Discover the reason why
So tiny human midget
Exists at all
So scared unwise
But expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.


Anonymous submission.

Added: 2 Jun 2002 | Last Read: 7 Jun 2025 12:28 PM | Viewed: 32515 times

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URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/4575/ | Viewed on 7 June 2025.
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