“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” - Barack Obama
This week, Poets United has as its Midweek Challenge motif, “change”. All things change, and no matter how hard we try not to, we change too. Some change is good some is bad, and if we wish to make the best of the shifting, coruscating, ever-metamorphosing world, we should be the agents of change ourselves. Anticipate change, catalyse it, be part of it, make it ours, own it and be positively influenced by it.
Metamorphosis
I choose to walk away from that image
Looking at me pitifully
Within the silver depths of mirror.
I shed my yellow countenance
I strip my flabby skin
And much like a snake erupting,
Freeing itself from its constricting,
Worn, outgrown, ugly old shirt,
My inner self slips lightly by, and is liberated.
Kicking the pile of hateful flesh
Laughing at the bewildered
Idiotic stare of moon-faced image
In the looking glass,
Resolve has effected change:
Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis…
At last I soar free and beautiful,
A brilliant butterfly,
Unfurling multicoloured wings
Tasting the joys of flight
Grateful for the mystery
Of metamorphosis.
This week, Poets United has as its Midweek Challenge motif, “change”. All things change, and no matter how hard we try not to, we change too. Some change is good some is bad, and if we wish to make the best of the shifting, coruscating, ever-metamorphosing world, we should be the agents of change ourselves. Anticipate change, catalyse it, be part of it, make it ours, own it and be positively influenced by it.
Metamorphosis
I choose to walk away from that image
Looking at me pitifully
Within the silver depths of mirror.
I shed my yellow countenance
I strip my flabby skin
And much like a snake erupting,
Freeing itself from its constricting,
Worn, outgrown, ugly old shirt,
My inner self slips lightly by, and is liberated.
Kicking the pile of hateful flesh
Laughing at the bewildered
Idiotic stare of moon-faced image
In the looking glass,
Resolve has effected change:
Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis…
At last I soar free and beautiful,
A brilliant butterfly,
Unfurling multicoloured wings
Tasting the joys of flight
Grateful for the mystery
Of metamorphosis.
there's so much joy in liberation, specially if a great change causes it...
ReplyDeleteOh I love this - from the photo of the amazing metamorphosis of the butterflies to flinging off the reflection in the mirror, recognizing the inner spirit is what is true and wild and free. A wonderful poem, my friend.
ReplyDeleteSuch intensity! Not being a butterfly, I long for an equally radical yet less body-altering change. I love the wisdom of your intro: " . . . if we wish to make the best of the shifting, coruscating, ever-metamorphosing world, we should be the agents of change ourselves. Anticipate change, catalyse it, be part of it, make it ours, own it and be positively influenced by it." Yup, if society is going to metamorph, it will need to shed its current form and even despise it. Your poem ROCKS!
ReplyDeleteI love the beautiful way you have expressed change. It does indeed make me hopeful that there are still positive changes that can be observed in the world. I do hope that we all have the possibility of soaring free again....we do have to make change our own & make it positive if we can.
ReplyDeleteYou might even feel jealous to develop that way except when you realize the short lifespan and then you come to accept that each created thing has its pros and cons. We are beautiful to start with and become less so as the years weary us. In exchange for its short life the butterfly is outstandingly beautiful in our eyes.
ReplyDeleteLove the intensity in this especially "In the looking glass, Resolve has effected change: Eggcaterpillar, chrysalis…" Beautifully executed.
ReplyDeleteThe process of becoming a butterfly is such a wonderful example of change. A beautiful write Nicholas!
ReplyDeleteTsk...you are such a perfectionist. Nothing wrong with a bit cuddly flab and the spaced out stare of a moon face dreamer:)
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that idea of shedding the snakeskin to reveal the real, inner self!
ReplyDelete