We put people in boxes
And we say
You must be
THIS way.

We put people in boxes
Crammed in.
Like contortionists.
But without flexibility.

We put people in boxes
Stored away.
Open them when we need something from them.
Then put them back on the shelf

We put people in boxes
Toys too.
You can have dolls, but you can’t.
You can have trucks, but you cant.

We put people in boxes
Plastic, like Barbies come in
Plastic surgery to fit in the box
Shaped like a cube, or a sphere.

We put people in boxes
And we tell them to get out.
But we don’t really want that.
We put them in another box.

We put people in boxes
And we paint the box like it’s Halloween.
And the box is a costume but it’s not.
You wear it all the time.

We put people in boxes
And we put ourselves in them too
Constantly categorizing
Where do I fit?

We put people in boxes
Man-made, designed
And designated to separate.
Labeled so we can tell them apart.

We put people in boxes
Because they are the same
Because they are different
Because we don’t know.

We put people in boxes
So many boxes
So few
HUGE boxes
Only two.

We put people in boxes
Colored boxes
Isn’t all cardboard brown?

We put people in boxes
And I’m tired of thinking about it
I’m tired of thinking
And I’m not the only one.

We put people in boxes
We’re too tired to pull them out
Too busy.
Living our own lives
In our own little box.