Not Your Toymaker’s Daughter

lillian

I prefer to live outside the box.
I am not a jack.

I won’t jump at your desire.
I am not a puppet.  Or a toy.
I am more like a cat.

Independent with nine lives.
And trust me,
none of them are yours.

Jack-in-the-box_1863_Harpers

De is hosting dVerse today, asking us to use the word “box” in a Quadrille (poem of exactly 44 words, sans title). Image from WikiCommons: 1863 Harpers from Thomas Nast.

52 thoughts on “Not Your Toymaker’s Daughter”

    • lillian August 13, 2018 / 4:44 pm

      She’s her own person, that’s for sure! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!

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  3. kim881 August 13, 2018 / 3:10 pm

    A Jack-in-the-box who stands up for herself, boxes her own corner and won’t be put in a box – I like her! She’s a Jill (Lill) out of the box 🙂 And doesn’t everybody want to be a cat, because a cat’s the only cat who knows where it’s at?

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    • lillian August 13, 2018 / 4:44 pm

      Smiling I am….and chucklying too! Silly Jilly and willy nilly lilly! 🙂

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    • lillian August 13, 2018 / 4:45 pm

      Yep — I could even seeing her stomping her foot too! 🙂 She’s her own person, that’s for sure.

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    • lillian August 13, 2018 / 4:46 pm

      Or, if you’ve ventured in to share a box, there needs to be an escape hatch sometimes! 🙂

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  7. Glenn Buttkus August 13, 2018 / 5:09 pm

    We were on the same page today–LevityRus. Must be a horror story when Jacqueline is inside the box with the lid closed, right? Loved the sassy lightness of this; made me smile.

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:15 am

      Thanks, Glenn. Always happy to hand out smiles! 🙂

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:15 am

      That she is! A fun one to write.

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  9. Mish August 13, 2018 / 6:09 pm

    Oh that last line was a zinger! Love it, Lil. I enjoy being and thinking outside of the box. Perhaps it is a common trait (or necessary one) for us poets….

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:15 am

      yes indeed………as the saying goes, “don’t box me in!”

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  10. rothpoetry August 13, 2018 / 6:47 pm

    Love the picture and the way it fits so well with your poem. Your attitude says it all!

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:16 am

      Thanks — glad you enjoyed. Yep — She’s got definite attitude! 🙂

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:16 am

      Thanks!
      PS: I always hated jack-in-the-boxes and my kids were terrifed of them when they were little!

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  12. m.j.smith August 13, 2018 / 8:20 pm

    You get a lot into a small space, and I’ll join the rest in cheering your ending.

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:17 am

      Thanks, Mary. Glad you enjoyed!

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:17 am

      Take that! Indeed 🙂 I had fun with this one.

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:18 am

      Well, I don’t know if your first comment was like this one….but I’ll definitely take this one! So glad you enjoyed — it was a fun one to write!

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  18. sanaarizvi August 14, 2018 / 12:20 am

    Ooh loving the tone and attitude in this quadrille, Lillian! 🔥❤

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:19 am

      Many thanks! So glad you enjoyed!

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:20 am

      Thanks, Laura. So glad you enjoyed!

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    • lillian August 14, 2018 / 11:20 am

      She does indeed…..and sometimes she struts too! 🙂

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  22. Adda August 14, 2018 / 2:21 pm

    So imaginative. Love this poem and its badass attitude. You go girl!!!!!

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  23. dornahainds August 14, 2018 / 4:08 pm

    Fantabulous! Love the Intensity of Emotions! 🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

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  26. Lona Gynt August 16, 2018 / 11:43 am

    the rhythm fits oragnically with the content. The musical tension builds with a series of declarations of what she is not, and then it (ironically) springs open the trap like a jack in the box springing out with that last zing of a line. Wonderful! Strange though, when I read it and read it aloud, I had the sense that “none of them are yours” rhymed, but it really doesn’t, maybe the soft r-alliteration of “desire” and “yours” is what I was hearing, or perhaps simply because the meter just rolls so delightlfully – but the linkage I feel knits these two words in an in-your-face fun antithetical verve. The desire may belong to the person she is addressing, but SHE does not.

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    • lillian August 16, 2018 / 12:14 pm

      Oh Lona….this is such a thoughtful response. Thank you thank you thank you! I truly appreciate your kind words!

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