The Paperwork

I loved this week’s 100-Word Challenge word–boxes. In the end, I climbed up on my soapbox a little to accomplish the challenge Tara set out for us in:

The Paperwork

So many little boxes sprouting on the forms
like mushrooms popping up
in dead and decaying wood
sheltered in a damp and shady forest
of bureaucratic similarity.

This one gives you one label
while another gives you that
in a social trick or treat
Forcing a predetermined conformity
upon we who fill them out.

But I want to be more
than labels and boxes on paper,
more than statistics to parse out
like government approved rations
to barely keep us alive.

Look past the forms and little check marks
to see the ones who fill them out.
We are alive.

Be sure to stop by Thin Spiral Notebook to check out other wonderful responses to this prompt!