Na/GloPoWriMo 19- Early Bird Prompt

Na/GloPoWriMo 2019, otherwise known as “that month in which you write a poem a day for 30 days.”

I am as usual late to the party, but I intend to try and catch up in my own sweet time...I begin with the early Bird prompt, where the challenge is to  write a poetic self-portrait, in which one has to portray oneself in the guise of a historical or mythical figure.

I am not sure if "The Velveteen rabbit" qualifies to to be a historical/ mythical figure but I wish to assume the guise of The Velveteen Rabbit. I have read the book as a child and keep going to it again and again... each time the story unravels more  magically , more poignantly. It speaks to me at several levels and there is certain stability, a sense of balance, a sense of assurance that it gives me...

Real is not what I am made of-  

I had to become real- said the Skin Horse

I did not understand, because inside, deep inside I felt real…

It hurts to become real- said the skin horse- and he must know

pic courtesy: the internet.

The Boy calls me real- and so real I am- only the others don’t know it yet…

It’s been a rough ride, to become real

It doesn’t do to be fragile or brittle

It doesn’t do to have sharp edges

The sheen of my coat has waned, the seams are showing,

My spots have faded, My vision is blurred,

Yet my heart is full, for I know how it feels to be loved

Nothing else matters

And now I can be on my own, because once I am real

I am real forever…