TO BUILD HOMES OUT OF BOX HOUSES

 

 

TO BUILD HOMES OUT OF BOX HOUSES

(For Marie Clementine)

Something about boxes as make-believe houses

Define their stories of how they must grow away
To stay close, anchored like uncut umbilicus.

Always look homeward, lass, and you will stay

To listen to this old heart’s rhythm in tall tales
Of shadows dancing on the walls, a shadow play

As real as your play-sets, teacups, saucers, kettles

And cutlery, all faces of a vibrant dreamworld game
Where abuelo will always be the catcher of shells

And you the full-to-the-brim pitcher of warm joy

In a pretend abode as inchoate as these cardboard
Walls emptied of things grown-ups like for a toy

To build homes with, to brighten shelters with,

And think paper pillars are stronger than reed.

---ALBERT B. CASUGA

06/14/13, Mississauga