Francesca said the people in
her neighbors, were nice people, they were kind,
they’d help you if your crop failed, or you had a fire,
but they were death on nonconformity. A woman had
an affair and the whole community ostracized her.
Well, Francesca was nice to her. I guess
she had had an affair. They became friends.
People gossiped about them but she didn’t care.
If you have any friends at all in a place like that
they’re worth holding on to. Drunks have each other,
or churchgoers. But everybody else, it’s fend for
yourself. It’s do the chores and watch television.
Isolation in the midst of busyness.