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From somewhere in the Middle East
the brass amulet of an eye within
an upside-down horseshoe
came to hang from a piece of fishing
wire directly below the "Please
Pay Here" sign at Coffee Time Donuts.
Marginalized,
but resigned to its fate,
the eye within the horseshoe
set to work.
For twenty-four unblinking hours a day
it guards the Coffee Time,
deflecting all evil—Starbucks, Second Cup.
The Arabic engraved along its outer edges
gleams at every customer purchase,
and the woman at the counter
(with trembling fingers) talks
excitedly: business is non-stop.
by Clara Blackwood
from: Under the Dragon's Tail, ©2002
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