Lindsay L. O'Connor

If you took off the lid
that was sealed so tightly,
I wonder what would spill out?

Would the contents burst forth
like a geyser shooting up,
or would something tightly coiled
finally have the room to spring,
air filling the long-compressed spaces
so that at last it could take up
all the space it was designed to occupy?

Or would it be a slow leak,
like a pinhole in a balloon’s stretchy latex,
a high-pitched tiny scream seeping out,
the result of something big condensing
in order to emerge from something small?

Would it be there, close to the surface,
or would you have to be tipped over,
letting it rove around
all your inner nooks & crannies
before it found its way
to the opening?
I wonder.

What would
happen
if
you let
yourself
s p  i   l    l