POETRY: Appearances — {The View from Here}

My prison has
Freshly painted walls
In cool Nantucket Gray
With white wainscoting
And candlesticks on the mantle.

The heirloom clock in the hall ticks
Merciless staccato sentences
Which confine me as securely
As the clang of any iron grate.

My smile shines brightly
From the family photograph
Gleaming on the side table.
Everything looks different
Depending upon
Your point of view.