The Prison
Gail White
Childhood is wretched, even if you’re not
abused and have no scars to show in court.
Children are powerless and moneyless
and worst of all, they’re short.
You have no transportation. Taller gods
carry you where they will. You have to go
to school, to doctors, other children’s parties,
whether you will or no.
No one believes your heart can really break.
No one respects the thoughts you bring from school.
Be cute, believe in Santa Claus, they’ll laugh
and hug their little fool.
Escape as best you can. Jump from a cliff,
swim through a river, scale the prison wall,
run through a forest fighting off wild beasts.
At any price, grow tall.
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From the collection Families and Other Fiascos (Potcake Chapbooks, 2019)
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Gail White is a formalist poet whose totem animal is the cat, as evidenced by her chapbook of cat poetry, Catechism. She lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, where she currently owns two cats and feeds three others.
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