Wound Up

Wound Up
Kevin E. Cleary
March 12, 2002 C.E. 6:05 PM EST

Let me out
The jack silently screamed from inside the box
You wound me up halfway and didn’t complete the melody
I’m sprung so tight I’m ready to snap
and you just walked away
It’s dark in here, and lonely
I just want to come out and play
Your other toys have come and gone
Yet here I still remain
Shelved and imprisoned
It’s no wonder I’m insane
Coiled potential energy pushing me against the ceiling
You must think I’ve got no feelings
to treat a jack this way.
Dust creeps in through cracks in my strained lid
I’m all gussied up with a painted-on smile,
like some drunk rodeo clown’s id
I cough and shift and
still the melody goes no further
If only I could fall off the shelf
End this suspended animation in my quadratic coffin
We’d both be surprised
and my arms would bounce
open for embrace
But then, I surmise,
you’d probably just grab my face
and cram me back in.