Jill in the Box

No one knows for certain

where and when the first jack-in-the-box toy was made,

but the toy can be reliably traced back to the Middle Ages.

A brightly painted box with a hinged lid and a crank,

when the crank is turned a melody plays,

much like a music box.

Unlike a normal music box,

this box holds a surprise--the 'jack' inside the box,

popping out on a spring when the melody ends and the lid is unlatched.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_5082822_history-jackinthebox-toy.html#ixzz2aprVwVxc

My Jack in the Box is a Jill

She is waiting for me

She is calling out a melody

For only my ears to hear

Sometimes she whispers

Just loud enough -

to remind me

-she is still there

I think about

How she serenades me

How she hides in wait

Hoping one day

My lid will pop

All my worries

evaporate

Clearing my path

Springing forth a future

No longer stuck in a box

Waiting for someone

To pop my lid

For no matter how much I push up the lid

I am trapped in my box

I continue to pray

That one day

I will escape

Someone will walk by

And see my

Jill in the Box

Pick me up

Turn my handle

Out I will pop

And all my worries too

For I will have finally escaped

Stretched my mind

Stood up straight

There I will stand

Kind of shivering all over

From having been popped

Once my spring stops springing

I will look around

At all I have missed

While trapped in my box

That which seemed daunting

Will haunt me no more

Until of course-

those sinking feelings

push me back

Into my box

Closing my lid!