Pause for poetry:
Michael Hawkes /13

Cardboard Boxes

A poem by Michael Hawkes

Have you been where cardboard boxes
are prized personal possessions
as precious as pillows,
as private as pajamas;
where layered cardboard boxes
make a grand four cornered bed?

Have you folded cardboard boxes for a cushion
or cut up broken boxes
for the flame in every shred?

Have you been where men burn boxes
to keep the frost from biting
to frighten off coyotes
and repel the dark of night.

Have you stood among the boxes
in the braziers barrelled brightness,
heard the brothers bellies rumbling
in their alcoholic lightness,
or seen their corrugated faces
in the shadows of its light?

Have you helped to tear
and break the boxes up
and shared the stubborn
stapled corners of their plight?

14/09/20 Hawkes

Feature image: Pedro Ribeiro Simões via StockPholio.net

More poetry, essays and short stories
Other recent articles