Schrodinger's Box by Colleen Anderson | ISSUE TWENTY FOUR: Systemly Real

Schrodinger's Box

Colleen Anderson

Schrodinger's box had its formation
long before a scientist poisoned
a cat within
or maybe did not

The earliest box was not born of nature
except from human thought
the brain’s convolutions up to no good
First there was a cart but not before the horse
that became a container in which
one hoarded treasures and trinkets
the added lid locked from prying eyes
saving fingers from taint
or maybe not

The box became a home with corners
to hide secrets and shadows
and later closets for skeletons
and forgotten ghosts in garrets
buried far beneath the family plot
or maybe not

The rooms, boxes within boxes
were endless permutations
a labyrinth where domestic bliss festered
into deadly events and people to frame
into a window, a box with no walls
yet captured
or perhaps not

Someone thought to perfect
those boxes, so many ways to contain
remove the sides and replace with bars
even the black sheep held
for indefinite periods of time
while clandestine trysts became mere shades
or maybe they did not

So don't blame Schrodinger
for a lengthy line of crazed people
craving ownership
intent on secreting riches
memories or species
for viewing or obsessing
He may have really killed the cat
and he may be in his own pine box
or maybe he is not

Colleen Anderson edits and writes fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in over 250 publications such as HWA Poetry Showcase, Polu Texni and Starline. Her collection, A Body of Work was published in 2018. She has edited three anthologies. Colleen will be the 2020 Creative Ink Festival guest of honor in Vancouver, where she watches for mold monsters. www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com

ISSUE TWENTY FOUR: Systemly Real | ← first poem