Girl in A Box
In my new apartment hangs
a painting called Girl in A Box
Large, 5 x 5 at least, and very well done
at least I think so
She is a favorite of my landlords
He said I could move her if I wanted
said she provoked strong feelings
I can see why but I like her
The box is really a crate
crafted out of wood, well made
there are no hinges, no locks
not even a door keeping Girl in
One side of the box is open
but she is firmly inside
Her large right hand spans a shoulder
leaving marks against the flesh
Her muscular hips and thighs
are gracefully proportioned
Her head, covered by dark hair, has
an arm protectively thrown over it
Her ribs are prominent, emaciated
Is she slender or starving?
I ask myself this after I eat breakfast
examining my own ribs in the mirror
Her skin is shades of gray
with greenish undertones
not really human?
is she flesh? maybe a spirit?
A spirit of a girl in a box
put there by whom?
kept there by whom?
is the box bad or good?
Questions I ask myself
while soaking in a
6x3x3 cement pool
at the Pelican spa
My body floats gently
legs and arms outstretched
hair forming a floating curtain
around my head and shoulders
“Wait a minute!” I think
I am a girl in a box, a cement box
I put myself here, there is no door
I WANT to be here
I return home to try
this new theory on Girl
Standing in front of her
I know I am gravely mistaken
This Girl is not in a box of stillness
This Girl is in pain, alone, defenseless
her only protection her own arm
thrown over her bowed head
I do not know why she is there
but I know she can’t get out
The certainty of that knowing
overwhelms me
despite the fact she is just a painting
a figment of the imagination
created by an artist I will never know
can never ask questions of
I think I will ask my landlord
to move Girl in A Box
I think I would like
puppies
or a sunset
or some flowers
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This painting was in a furnished apartment we rented when we moved to Truth or Consequences, NM. It is a well-known fact in town that the landlord buys buildings just for more wall space to display his extensive art collection. I really could have traded Girl in A Box for a puppy painting! Despite the ending of this poem, she stayed on the wall until we moved out and is probably still there. The woman who manages the property is terribly crabby though and as bad as I wanted/needed a photo to make this piece understandable, there was no way I was going to knock on her door and ask her if I could take a photo of the painting in Apartment C. Low and behold, last week Google Photos said, "Look what was happening in your life in July 2016!" and there was a long lost (except to Google - so WEIRD!) photo of the painting and my old lab Suzy. I have no idea if I was trying to take a photo of Suzy or the painting, as they are both half in and out of focus but I present to you... Girl in A Box, she still makes me cry. ):