The Shy One Poem by Maya Reid

It’s not Halloween
But everyone is living under a collage
Of terrible
Delicate
Masks
You give greetings to dodo birds
Disguised as dancers with tiaras
And butterfly wings
You welcome them
And they become the teacher of tricks
They are cattle
Marchers going somewhere
You pick the shy one
The ghost from the crowd
The one with his head hung
He was following them somewhere
Didn’t know where and didn’t care
But you are one of the rare searchers
You were delighted to find
That he wants to run away
But he did not know how
He didn’t know a thing about anything
You ask a question and get
No answer
Period
But you will be his teacher
You loved him
So you stole him away from the games
You will fight his spooky scary spiders
Place him on a pedestal
Away from the strange little shadows
That you follow a little too closely
You tried to help him
Be his thimble for protection
And you bumped into those weird creatures
It frightened you how they fit with him
But he was one of your three close friends
So you dug through the big mess
It looked like the stands after a baseball game
You counted sesame seeds, delicious sweets, a lollipop, an apple, someone’s dinner
Other things she wouldn’t eat
After searching the sky and moon
You found nothing
But received some news
You have known all along
That he is different – hurray!
But as you raced along dancing before
You missed what made him more attractive
What seemed flashy to you
When he is alone, he has a missing piece
He is a jack-o-lantern that wants a magic wand
And a spell to turn back into a pumpkin
Wait – or is that you?
You both just want a home
Whether it be in haystacks on a farm
Or in a familiar mansion all by yourself
It took six days for two to become one
You stole him away then tried to fly away
And he screamed out, “Stay with me! ”
So you floated back down
Wrapped your arms around him in an O
And together you began to roll
With your eyes closed, not looking where you were going
Barely missed crashing into the general store
As you rolled, both of your sharp edges
Began to wear off
Both your shapes
Began to change
And the two jack-o-lanterns began to each grow hearts
Their hearts said, “You cannot roll without me.
Maybe I am your missing piece.
I will take my place within the both of you
Forever and ever.”