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.
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.
Love the attitude, Lillian.
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Thanks! Yep – she’s got an attitude here 🙂
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Ooooo. I like the force in that last line. Hit that road, Jack. 😉
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She’s her own person, that’s for sure! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
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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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Smiling I am….and chucklying too! Silly Jilly and willy nilly lilly! 🙂
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I love the sassy tone!
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Yep — I could even seeing her stomping her foot too! 🙂 She’s her own person, that’s for sure.
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It is best to be outside someone else’s box.
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Or, if you’ve ventured in to share a box, there needs to be an escape hatch sometimes! 🙂
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Love that last line 🙂
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It was a fun one to write! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed.
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I did 🙂
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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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Thanks, Glenn. Always happy to hand out smiles! 🙂
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Strong woman! I love her independent character!
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That she is! A fun one to write.
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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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yes indeed………as the saying goes, “don’t box me in!”
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Love the picture and the way it fits so well with your poem. Your attitude says it all!
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Thanks — glad you enjoyed. Yep — She’s got definite attitude! 🙂
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I love the sassy ending!
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Thanks!
PS: I always hated jack-in-the-boxes and my kids were terrifed of them when they were little!
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You get a lot into a small space, and I’ll join the rest in cheering your ending.
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Glad you enjoyed!
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Love the take on this!
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Thanks, Mary. Glad you enjoyed!
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So take that… – ha. So good and love the illustration.
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Take that! Indeed 🙂 I had fun with this one.
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My comment disappeared! I love this sassy full of moxey poem!
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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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Purrrfect hiss to thiss!
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Such a great comment! A cat you are 🙂
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Meeoow!
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Fierce and feisty, Lill!
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Thanks! She is indeed….had fun creating this cat-like woman! 🙂
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Aww. You’re welcome!
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Ooh loving the tone and attitude in this quadrille, Lillian! 🔥❤
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Many thanks! So glad you enjoyed!
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Feisty and defiant! Love it 🙂
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She’s a fiercely independent one! 🙂
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Indeed!😊
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a willful Jill – love the tempo the match
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Thanks, Laura. So glad you enjoyed!
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Yes, the cat walks alone.
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She does indeed…..and sometimes she struts too! 🙂
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So imaginative. Love this poem and its badass attitude. You go girl!!!!!
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Fantabulous! Love the Intensity of Emotions! 🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
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You tell ’em Lil!
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Oooh nice one.
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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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Oh Lona….this is such a thoughtful response. Thank you thank you thank you! I truly appreciate your kind words!
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