Not for children
SOMEWHERE IN APRIL
Something there is that doesn’t love a box.
mattressbox pillowbox blanketbox bedroombox rise and open a closetbox my face it scowls in a mirrorbox.
doorbox wallbox windowbox roombox sinkbox tub-box showerbox towelbox
toothbrush. toilet bowl.
kitchenbox fridgebox tablebox cerealbox ovenbox cupboardbox
spoon. bowl.
sofabox carpetbox curtainbox rugbox Kleenexbox
lawnbox cellarbox furnacebox porchbox patiobox
phonebox screenbox chairbox fanbox bookbox pagebox cablebox Xbox
boxed in boxed out let me out let me out.
McCain the box man two by two. Up and down and side to side. Stand and sit not dance or fly. True or false and eye for eye. What and when not how or why. Say and do not think or try. In the box not on or by. One and two not x or y. Four and two not three or five. White to black and short to tall. Hard to soft and big to small. Glass with glass and wood with wood. Chart and table pen and ink. Scale and ruler gram and pound. Cut just once but measure twice. Twenty-four and eighty-two. Four-by-six and two-by-four. Paper pencil notebook boxes inches meters cardboard metal solid plastic table wire cable move put cut place box bring store tape find catch weigh stop build cut come drop get hang pull fold lift push leave hold two four six eight six four two four six eight six four two four six eight six four two four six eight 6 4 2 4 6 8 6 4 2 4 222 44 222 4 2 4 222 44 222 4 2 22 222 2222 222 22 2 22 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Let me out.
Let me out.
No longer able! No Longer Abel!
Not in a BOX not with a fox
I’ll take my chances in a tree
I’ll take my chances out at sea
I’ll take my chances with a dog
I’ll take my chances in the fog
what chance have I for one more day
to carry on boxed up this way?
I need some water;
An apple, a roof, a window, and a door;
A smile, a shake, a hug, or an eye;
Some sun, a breeze, a chirp, or a cloud;
Something to make, and You—that’s Paradise.
Look there, a great catastrophe.
Look from afar, then walk away.
What help can you offer a burning house?
A squirrel is perched on a tire swing
That hangs from a tree in an old man’s yard.
He halts, then scurries at my approach.
I laugh; not even the best-laid schemes
Of gods and squirrels could save us both today.
Oh look, a calamity shrieks in red and blue
Against a silent night and beady eyes
From doors and windows, bushes, bulbs, and trees.
Stay back! Away! The show is not for you.
NOTES
Somewhere in April “Somewhere in Mancha…” “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes. Something there is…box “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost. McCain the box man The Bible KJV Genesis 4. No longer Abel Genesis 4. Not in…fox “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. I need some water “LUST.” by Kendrick Lamar. An apple…Paradise “The Rubáiyát, 12” by Omar Khayyám. the best-laid…squirrels “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns.
Next.
Yousef Alqamoussi 