The Writing on the Box

Puffs, crunchs, crisps
Flakes and squares
Giants sit down to breakfast
Yes, they sit to eat theirs

They sit and they stare
In the cool morning light
And the laughter does flare
As they read left to right

This one shows a father of four
Spent life living as his daddy did
Never asking if there's else or
If there is life beyond this box's lid

Here, this one, shows a gal
Razor tongue, all armored in black
In her box without a pal
Happy to be a party hack

Funny thing about these boxes
The giants read few younger faces
Which makes them wonder 'bout the foxes
Confining older minds in tiny spaces

Barbara Butler McCoy

I wrote this nearly four years ago, just after the '04 election and it is still, well, more than a little relevant. The idea came to me one day while wearing one of my 'Life is good' shirts. It has an image of a t.v. on the front with the admonition to "Think outside the box." I thought of people inside the t.v. - y'know, like little kids do - and then faces outside the box. Then the whole cereal box idea just bloomed forth. Maybe I was channeling Roald Dahl or something?