Boy in the Corner
by Priscilla Turner Spada

Upon a chair in the corner, in a cartoon,
a small boy is sitting, facing a wall.
It’s always the same, he has broken some rule
or smashed a window with his baseball.

We don’t know his fate, how long he must sit.
Did he tease his sister, causing a rift?
The caption is missing, we’ll have to imagine
what he does every time so they catch him.

Will he be sitting forever, there,
trapped in a drawing, with no relief?
It’s always this boy; it’s so unfair.
Can the picture be changed, make his exile brief?

Let’s not make him like Little Jack Horner,
waiting upon a chair in the corner.
Forgive him, erase, let him out, set him free.
Draw him being happy, climbing a tree.



 

Return to: