gazing past picket fence
everything is too intense
inside even walls don’t talk
silence but for a scraping fork

no one seems to notice her
by the window, can’t you hear?
the wordless cry for help she bawls
but soon again her fate comes to call,

“stay with momma, baby
daddy loves you dearly
come stand by me, closely
momma will protect thee.”

the children play with sticks and stones
they shout out words she doesn’t know
hopping round they hug each other
cousin and friend, sister and brother

if only they would say her name
she’d jump right up and join the game
she’d burst through the door and finally see the light
for she knows it’s the key to release her from her plight.

“do not be foolish, darling
what you dream of is crazy
you have not seen what I’ve seen
the world is just too scary.”

the anger builds inside her head
if she’s not allowed to live then she may as well be dead
not permitted just to be, take a bite, have a look-see
but she holds on still, any day now she’ll be set free,

“sweetheart, what a pretty thought
but you've forgotten all I've taught
you've overlooked one detail, see
to get to them, you’ll have to get past me.”

I like to read my book
I read all night and day
I don’t help mother cook
I don’t go out to play
I don’t take notes in class
Or skip with Jess at lunch
Sometimes when I read fast
I can read books by the bunch
I don’t carve hearts on trees
I don’t worry about the dance
I’m not bothered with birds or bees
Or a summer romance
When father takes the boat
And tries to get me on
I hide somewhere remote
And wait until he’s gone
Because I like to read my book
In summers, winters, springs
It’s my one and only hook
I like the bliss it brings

Its hard to be attentive
When all I wanna do
Is go searching for that rabbit hole
I don’t want to have a clue

Its hard to be balanced
When all I wanna do
Is make up pretty stories
And believe that they’re true

Its hard to be respectable
When all I wanna do
Is drink one too many
And pass out in the loo

Its hard to be proper
When all I wanna do
Is dance around the office
To all my favorite tunes

Its hard to be hard working
When all I wanna do
Is kick my feet up
And write a poem or two

Oh, its hard to be
Just be anything
When all I wanna do
is do.

There’s a little door behind my desk

It will not budge, I try my best

I pull and tug but it is stuck

I knock three times and try my luck

All day I sit and stare at it

Any longer I may have a fit

My tedious job makes for no distraction

I need to think less and take some action

At lunch I buy a box of tools

I open up, sift through the screws

I grab something that looks like it would do the trick

When it doesn’t work I consider a brick

Hours, days and weeks go by

Curiosity eats at me, and I want to cry

I jump up and rush out through the door

Then return a little later with a razor sharp saw

Like a woman possessed, I cut through the wood

No one dares to stop me, not that they ever could

It finally gives in to the pressure and inside lies a note

“Ha ha” It says, “You’ve just fallen for the biggest joke.”