---

time for yellow?

in my room
 where I feel at home
 where I feel safe
 but today
 I’m less comfortable
 there’s an oversized, old-fashioned
 yellow clock
 occupying most of my room
 almost touching the ceiling
 with its big brass bells on top
 I hope the alarm doesn’t ring
 I don’t need that kind of trouble

rattling my being
 already my bed is too short
 my sneakers too small
 my toothbrush tiny
 the sun shines in
 making the massive yellow clock sparkle
 on this day without clouds
 a giant yellow clock
 is the new black

cages

even the most beautiful butterfly

is ugly when caged

only regaining its beauty when free

 

the broken cage celebrates

it never wanted to contain

what was always meant to be free

---

Dan Brook teaches in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Jose State University, from where he organizes the Hands on Thailand program. His most recent books are Harboring Happiness: 101 Ways To Be Happy (Beacon, 2021), Sweet Nothings (Hekate, 2020), about the nature of haiku and the concept of nothing, and Eating the Earth: The Truth About What We Eat (Smashwords, 2020).