"The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint
whatever passes through my head without any other consideration." ~
Frida Kahlo
As a small child,
I caught my mind in a jar.
All day, under the sun in the grass blades,
I was monarch,
dandelion,
daddy longlegs.
That night,
terror held its regularly scheduled circus.
There were lids on every eyelash,
and glass between me and morning.
The tigers said, "Hide in our mouths."
The great ape said, "Hide in my hand."
In their eyes, jars of murder.
People smile and say,
"I wish I could spend an hour inside your head."
Inside, Bengal and Silverback.
Outside
--even still--
monarch,
dandelion,
daddy longlegs
and my face against the glass.
_____
for Susie's goose at Toads.
Image: "Ophelia" by Antoine Auguste Ernest Hebert