A Poem A Day #23

What have I done to begin this war?

I shake in my corner,
In my little, dusty corner.
I eat only peas and grapes,
Only round things,
Because my mouth won’t open anymore.
How I shake,
How i quiver like a bowstring.
A pea rolls across the floor.
What have I done to begin this war?
Metal rings in my ears.
I muffle them,
But the sound only grows.
It only grows louder.
My legs unbuckle.
They kick the grape bowl.
I’m too tired to pick the fruit up.
What have I done to begin this war?
Someone’s calling my name.
“Come back, come back,” they say.
How can I come back?
I am trapped.
The peas and grapes have trapped me.
See, they surround me
And won’t let me go.
I can’t call back
Because my mouth won’t open anymore.
And now I have nothing to feed it.
What have I done to begin this war?
The ringing grows.
I scream.
Actually, my mind screams,
Because my mouth won’t open anymore.
What have I done to begin this war?

By Catherine Joy