“Octopus”

by Shelly Moore

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Can you imagine?

I shut my very best qualities down,

For the general appeasement of clowns.

My fascination with things unseen,

Thrown away so I’d fit into the scene.

My insatiable thirst for new experience,

Bound and gagged to keep them content.

My wide open hungry mind & beaming smile,

Dulled down and blunted to match their style.

My love for exploring new people and new places,

Swept under the rug to maintain social graces.

They simmer & bubble just under my surface,

Boiling over as tears or the clenching of my fists.

I catch glimpses of them when I gaze into a mirror,

Held captive as prisoners by the warden; my fear.

I pray for their strength so they’ll burn the house down,

The warden’s, that is, so they can bring me my crown.

Placing it atop my head, they’ll whisper in my ear,

“We did it, we did it, we conquered our fear!”

“Let’s put on our shoes and go for a long hike alone!

Let us call up old friends and see how they’ve grown!”

“Let us go outside with our head held so high,

Let us look less at the ground and more toward the sky!”

“Let us wear all the things we’ve been buying,

That we loved so so much but had been afraid of trying!”

“Let us remember there is no I, only “we.”

For that is the only way you’ll learn to be free!”

Life is too difficult to go at alone,

Overwhelmed, we hideaway in our homes.

We cry in our beds for a sense of connection,

Houses provide a false sense of protection.

Our minds, our auras, our soul’s stretch so wide,

Far beyond our bodies; far beyond these hides.

Far beyond the outstretched arms of a mother,

Far beyond the roughened hands of the father.

We can simply think of each other, although separated by miles,

Our soul’s will connect through space and through time.

A simple thought of a person acts as an outstretched hand,

Connecting one soul to another in faraway lands.

So you see, we cannot allow bad thoughts of ourselves,

Don’t say it to you if you wouldn’t say it to someone else.

If we can reach another and affect them through thought as has been proven,

Imagine what you’re doing to yourself when you let fear and self-deprecation.

When I think of you, I’ll send good thoughts, as I do,

I would never reach a soiled hand out to you.

I’m sending you love, I’m sending you peace,

I hope your heart smiles back when you think of me.

I’m choosing to embrace all my so-called eccentricities,

For they say one man’s rubbish is another man’s keep.

Moving forward I hope you’ll consider taking the time,

To send your soul thisaway to connect with mine.

I may say a lot, maybe too much, through my words,

A habit I’ve picked up attempting to be more understood.

I may still hide away physically,

Another habit I’ve procured far too easily.

Pretending I’m a giant octopus in the ocean,

I’ll outstretch my arms and set the waters in motion.

I’ll create waves as I used to, just let me ease in,

As I remember what it feels like to become myself again.

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