Cementcoveredcherries

Ode to Self-Respect
By: Rania S. Watts © Summer 2008

I alone can stand on the foothills
of the snow-capped Himalayas,
where Yeti resides in peace.

I can dive
to the depths of the ocean's floor,
where a giant squid and sperm whale may spar,

exorcise all the gothic demons who
haunt me in the pitch shadows.

I can see whose spirit
is brought back from the land of the dead,
with the crow perched on my window sill,
watch as a planet's oceans transform to blood
with all the poaching of shark fins.

I alone can embrace
the fortification of the rays,
in spite of the sphere’s rejection.

I observe
this world as it aches...
when most of humanity lies idle.

I will never
look through another's eyes,
To seek approval.

I am me
for once in my life!