Learning How To Hide

By Tara Nicole Walker

03.04.03

When one dies

And another future begins

How do we go on

Day by day

With nothing to cling to

The knowledge of a child

For that is once again

How our spirits grow

Enveloped in a state of immaturity

That we cannot escape

That our child-like selves

Cannot help but be

We have to learn again

Learn how to stand

How to walk

How to speak

How to love

And most of all - how to live

All over again

So that we can start anew

When the time comes for us to die

So we can begin again

That endless cycle of never quite learning

The right words

The right things to do

The right way to act

The right choices to make

Until we flee

To hide

And then to start

All over again

As a new but used creation

Re-shaping who we are

If only to the extent of the outside appearance

If only to what others see of us

To instill a new image

Until we finally learn

That, that

Is what this game is all about

Learning how to hide

From reality

Learning how to build those walls around ourselves

Learning how to adapt

Blend in

Become

With each new person

With each new situation

Even

With each new life

We stay a pawn

Until we learn how to move the pieces ourselves

And then...

All we can do is live

Try to live

Try to go on

Until we decide it's time to move on

To the next hand

The next game board

The next score card

With the ever-dying hope

Of one day winning...