Pinocchio Poem – A Creative Response

Pinocchio Poem
By Magda Andrews-Hoke
Grades 9-12

Through his fingers in the dark he sees ticking clocks.

through wooden fingers

timeless limbs

he hears the tick of time passing in the shop

of his false father.

He senses the passing of time

tick tock and tock tick

and the click clack of wooden fingers, >case

shutters for his wooden eyes

 

In the nighttime no one can see the difference between here and there

or floor and ceiling

or wood and flesh

He wishes to hear the soft rubbing of flesh fingers over flesh face

Soft rubbing is more comforting in the dark night than

                        click clack                               click clack

 

He lies and says he likes himself

just the way he is, he says

He lies and says wood is flesh, flesh is wood, family is family

He lies and says he does not need others made of click and clack

But he likes trees

He lies. He lies. He lies.

 

He believes in God

He does not believe in a flesh God

and this reassures him

But he does not believe in a wooden God

but one of miracles and goodness

He thinks that if he wishes hard enough                just hard enough

He will hear the rubbing of soft fingers on face

as he cowers in the dark of the wooden shop

and this miracle

would be from God

to whom he would never lie

This is a finalist in our Pinocchio Creative Response Contest in collaboration with Philadelphia Stories, Jr. From August 5-16, leave a comment on this post or like the link  on our Facebook page to vote for this entry to win a prize!