Musings from a Struggling Logophile

The Back of the Cereal Box: The Cornerstone to Any Good Day

I

Cereal boxes have become as bland

and stale as the cereal they hold.

I remember they used to be

the most exciting thing

in the world, or at least

the most entertaining thing

for a kid right away in the morning.

Fighting over the box with my brother

was almost a daily occurrence;

It didn't matter that

we were eating different cereals.                               

I wanted to be the first

to conquer the maze,

to unscramble the letters,

to cut out and play

with the tangrams.

To stop any arguments

over who got the color-changing spoon

hidden inside, our parents

always bought two boxes.

It was on the back of a cereal box

that I first saw the optical illusion of

the old lady and young woman,

and the endless staircase.

I never asked my parents for help

with the scissors when cutting

out the flimsy animal masks.

II

Cereal is mundane now.

The content on the back of the box

is what I have seen for the last

seven years or more.

Healthy tips encourage me

to exercise and eat right.

If I wanted to eat right, I wouldn't

be eating Fruit Loops,

or Cheerios drowned in a cup of sugar.

Now you have to mail in

x-number of vouchers

to get a lame prize—

A four page book

that is mostly pictures anyway.

Now I understand why

so many people skip breakfast.

Just a little bit of nostalgia as I reflect on my childhood.