From “The Girl Box Series”

I gaze at the ceiling
I stare at the floor
To my left—sorrow
To my right—a wall
___

Place three girls in one room
One will laugh
One will cry
One will excel in silence
___

Some born small
Some born smaller
Some have smallness thrust
Upon them
___

Deformed, unfinished
Sent before my time
I am subtle, crushed at the edges
I am sublime
___

Go on, say it
Little Box is not a hoo-ha
___

Open wide
Hinge back
Scream!
No one is listening
___

box pantoum

Can’t you dream out of the box?
Marbles rattling in your brain
Your mother was in pain
She said no when she meant yes

Marbles rattling in your brain
You will never amount to anything
She said no when she meant yes
Sickness, death, and despair

You will never amount to anything
Your mother was in pain
Sickness, death, and despair
Can’t you dream out of the box?
___

meret oppenheim

Little Box does not wear a mink coat
Her name is not Meret Oppenheim
___

box measures

You are a freak, a cuboid
A weirdo trapezoid
A rhomboid asswipe
A four-eyed coalition

You are flat as a board
Titless as a parallelogram
A straight line what’s your point?
A broken system

Go back to where you came from
___

the great square

The great square has no corners
The great tone makes a tiny sound
The great image has no form
The Great Mother has no proof

The great square is finally silent
The Long March ends in death
I do not want to die in a box, says mother
I want to laugh in open air
Source: Poetry (November 2020)