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to look and to see.
On 02, Nov 2011 | No Comments | In Uncategorized | By Natalie
it was night.
and not just any night.
a special night.
that only comes once
a year.
the night where
we pretend to be the
thing we are not.
no, i’m not talking about
everyday struggles.
i’m talking about
an organized collective
we call Halloween.
this particular
night i am with a small
princess.
her pink polyester gown
barely keeping her warm
in the night’s air.
before we head outside
a quick moment catches us
standing.
side by side.
looking into a mirror.
“you look so pretty.” i tell the princess.
she takes a step closer,
seeing.
she takes a step back,
swooshing her dress.
her cheeks hold her grin.
“i know.” she breathes.
jack-o-lanterns light the paths
while the kids’ bubbled excitement
swells large
as the night holds them.
the princess and i
walk hand in hand.
mine bare.
hers mitted.
“ooooh!” squeals the princess
pointing her hand into the sky.
“look! can’t you see it? the moon.
it is following me!”
“why is it following you?”
i ask.
the princess sighs,
“i don’t know,
but every night.
the moon always finds me.”
i pause.
“maybe the moon
really likes you.” i say.
“yeah,” the princess puts her
mitted hand over her mouth, giggling,
“i think your right.”
she looks up at me.
pure delight written all over
her face.
that night, i call her “princess”.
and every time,
she responds,
“but that’s not my name!
your forgot!”
she laughs at my mistake.
while i can’t help longing for
this ‘knowing’
the young princess possesses
of her own self.
and we walk on,
the princess and i.
past orange lights and
smiling pumpkins.
she pauses and sees it all.
each pumpkin,
each strand of lights,
each costume,
she tells each thing of its
beauty.
again we round a corner
and there it is.
bright and shiny and so mysteriously
hanging in the sky.
the moon.
it found the princess again.
the princess shrieks
with excitement to have been
found twice
in one evening.
she takes a step closer,
seeing.
she takes a step back,
as she declares,
“it is so beau-tee-ful!”
even this night.
when we put a costume
on her,
call her a different
name,
tell her she is something
else.
the young girl knows.
she knows who she is.
she sees herself.
she knows her imagine.
her own beauty
is no stranger to her.
who can say this little girl
is proud?
conceited?
no.
she is not.
she just simply knows.
because she so clearly sees
herself
she has the proper chance to
experience the world around her.
and so for us.
may we look.
and may we know.
then may we all begin
to see.
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