Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-28428152-20180409042210

Not my favorite. But a silly little one nonetheless. Or maybe I just think it's silly because I'm fucked up. I dunno.

There, under the tree

Is one last gift

It’s brown and ripped

I inquire my parents

—They know nothing of the sorts

Father jests of the annual gift-giver

—But they know I no longer believe

I search for the box

Sister asks of the recipient

—It is for me

I see its angry address

Sister comments on my luck

Everybody received three tokens each

But I have four!

But this one is a tad bit queer

I rip apart the paper

I tear the string

A rusty Jack-In-the-Box unveils

Our guesses so dense

I revolve the crank

—I jump at a metallic clank!

But a heavenly tune ensues

Not one ordinary, but that unheard

We all listen to the spell

Seconds or hours, no one knows

With a rusty clunk

Jack gives us his cheers

Burned and black is his face!

A grin, all too wide

Eyes bugged and swollen

Hair matted and thin

But I alone can see

They acclaim his beauty

—Yet I see only a dusty monster

Not the glistening cherub they describe

I tuck the beast away

And mention it not once more

Pricking at my merry mind

I fake my spirits

*  *     *     *  *

I know I turned it to the wall

—But it graphically grins at me

Oh, through the night!

Now I dream of jack-knife butchers

Night after night of his survey

I throw the beast away

—But it always returns

More dingy than before

I tell my sister

To her, it’s a tall tale

I dare not tell another soul

For who could possibly believe?

This cruel ghastly gift!

I break the Jack!

—But it returns, no doubt

The pieces crudely glommed together

Yet a devil more!

I ask around and about

For confirmation of its repair

No consolidation, do I get

For this evil thing of return

I burn it at the stake

—But it sits back up black and burned

Upon my cruel shelf

It sings to me under the moon

—I never twist the crank!

Yet in all my nightly despair

There issue the shrill screams

I drown it in a deep-set lake

—But it returns more rusted than before!

Why must it ceaselessly haunt?

Never can I be rid of it 