Inside the Box

Joan Mazza

Inside the Box

I’m staying inside this box of memories and journals, wandering up and down the timeline to find the arc of this old story amid cobwebs, musty odors, a film of dust coating papers, letters, photos. I’m thinking inside this box, keeping the lid down so I don’t flee to other stories irrelevant to this one, or leap onto newer tales of bullies, cult leaders, adoring followers. One story to hold the focus of a reader, to keep pages turning. The box must be small to constrict and squeeze the reader’s attention. Have you been held hostage? This could be you or your children. True believer? Bound by faith or love? This could happen to anyone. It takes years to dig out of that dark cellar with only a pen to scratch in the dirt. 

Bio : Joan Mazza worked as a medical microbiologist, psychotherapist, and taught workshops on understanding dreams and nightmares. She is the author of six self-help psychology books, including Dreaming Your Real Self (Penguin/Putnam). Her work has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Poet Lore, Slant, Prairie Schooner, and The Nation. She lives in rural central Virginia.

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