Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Wish for Alligator Skin

I know it is my birthday month, but I'll tell you what: I was hoping for something of a different surprise than what's been jumping out of the cake this August!

This month has been more than sufficiently interesting, with things thrown at me by the universe that I never would have expected. Things I've always dreaded, situations I've always avoided, behaviors I've tried to abstain from; you name it, anything that has been resisted has come up to bite me in the ass since the beginning of August.

Ever the eternal optimist, the parts of me which would like to hate the past few weeks instead say "wait... let's make lemonade! And while we're at it, let's make it pink".

Plato once said that knowledge is the food of the soul, and if that is the case, I am full up with all that I am learning.

These sorts of things require thick skin. Thus here I am, channeling an alligator, wishing for its skin.

Right now, this is my life.


Monday, August 15, 2011

Beware of Shiny Packaging

It’s like the toy you saw when you were little,

And you knew, from the very moment

That you set your eyes upon it,

You needed it.

For all of its promised glory.


Blindly, you knew how it would feel in your hands

Just what you’d do with it

The fun and the games, the adventure

How it would move with you

Going wherever you would go.


Or like a tasty treat,

How it would feel to peel the wrapper

Slowly from the morsel

And place it in your mouth.

The taste, the smell.

How it would be yours.


But there it was on the shelf in its

Shiny, alluring packaging

Just out of your reach so you can’t touch.

Unable to be acquired.


It didn’t matter that it wasn’t meant to be yours,

That your instincts said it wasn't worth

The cost.

You did anything you could to earn it.

Only to find, in the end

It couldn't do half the stuff you just knew it would.