Cardboard Box
By Zoe Stiefel
Once it was mailed
Now it rots in the rain
On the lonely doorstep
Brittle, brown and stained.
Simple, dull, torn,
Not much to see
Yet through the eyes of a child
There’s much more it can be
Step inside, climb aboard
And your world will transform.
From imagination and wonder
Endless marvels are born.
It might be a rocket
That blasts to the stars
To meet and greet aliens
That reside on planet Mars
Or perhaps it’s a time machine
That takes you back through the past
To when giant lizards roamed Earth
And ruled landscapes vast
Flip it upside, and
It’s a cave to explore
With mysteries deep and
Labyrinths galore
Crawl inside with your toys
For hours of play,
Close it up in the dark and
It’s a great hideaway
Or grip the flaps tight,
You’re the king of the track,
Screeching ‘round corners
There’s no speed you lack!
Or maybe it’s a pirate ship
Sailing open seas,
With the wind in your hair
And a salty sea breeze
It can be a spaceship
That’s at your command
You’re an astronaut captain
On distant planets you’ll land.
With belief, imagination
And creativity,
It can be anything you
Want it to be
But to those careworn adults,
Slaves to their clocks,
In their eyes, it is only
A cardboard box.
