I followed a cat to see what he did,
Followed and stalked and stealthily hid.
After some mischief and three weeks of sleep
He yawned at the world and sank to his keep.
I watched him pull out a thicker dog suit
Along with two pairs of bigger paw boots.
He put it all on in a great furry fog
And with a wag of his tail that cat was a dog!
That new dog got up and swaggered on out,
Leaving me in a pile of “What’s this all about?”
When I noticed some scales, then feathers, a fin,
That beast had other beast suits by the bin!
But when I saw a human suit I froze,
‘Cause an old possibility was no longer closed.
I tugged at myself to see if I gave,
This was the time to dig deep and be brave.
I looked in the mirror and to my small surprise
Found myself staring straight into wolf eyes.
I had to get off one howl at the moon
And then dug deeper – Emu! Tortoise! Raccoon!
I never knew how much of me was down here!
Next was a snake! Eagle! Mouse deer!
I found bugs below slugs under bugs!
I was made up of many animal hugs!
I had to find out – how deep did I go?
I keep on digging so someday I’ll know.

It’s a really silly world
That will tell you who to be.

A hilly kind of silly
That’s lost all its pretty lilies
And so has turned real chilly.

A confused, confounded, quilly world
That fills me with the willies.

But, above all, silly.

You’re already you.

I’m already me.

Who else would we be?

When Different came a-knocking
And said, “It’s time to change,”
We found it all sho- shocking
And shrieked, “You’ve gone deranged!”

True enough, but so had we,
So against leaving our range.

The known is past, Different’s the key,
The future’s in the strange.

A little boy was lonely
He felt new kinds of lowly
So he left his holy home he
Went out with highest hope he
Asked the stoic stonies
“Are you friend or phony?”

Now stones do all things slowly
Their thoughts are not all flowy
They’re not any sort of showy
Even though he listened closely
Those stones were just too low key
To hear they were not foe-y.

So he asked a poky pony
“Sir would you like to know me?”
And it neighed a handsome “Nopee!”

The boy did not turn mopey
Did not go groany moany
Would not let himself get toady
Nor at all roly poly
Indeed he kept quite woe free
Instead he set out boldly.

He’s not alone although he
Feels very very lonely
He looks for fellow cronies
And we’ll keep an eye out won’t we?

Illustration by Cromuncho whose art can be found on Instagram.

Part I

The skies were roaring gray
When Kew walked out his gate.
It took all his life up to that day,
Just barely short of, oh, too late,
But still he found his fate.

He stepped into the gracious Storm,
Stepped into her at last.
His business done and past
He finally reached his finest form,
She pulled him to pieces fast.

The Storm invites all in
To her push and pull and spin.
She’ll fight you fully as a friend –
I recommend the wind.

Part II

Storm hugged him tight in her mad swirl,
She’s a vicious loving girl.
Kew’s will and hands were now unfurled,
Sent back to Mount Abirlakurled
Whose roots held up the whirling world.

Every piece of you is you
And every piece of Kew is Kew,
His hands and will from this old hill
Had made him strong and now fulfilled
Their promise to return renewed.

The Storm invites all in
To her push and pull and spin.
Slip your fear and go for wonder,
Head straight for her thunder.

Part III

Kew moved forward with his Storm
As she went calling worms.
Forward now to build and learn,
His friendly nature took its turn
In tickling tendrils of a river fern.

He got his invite to a riverbank,
Befriended all who came his way,
Grew up rocks, trees – he wouldn’t stay
In place, spreading like spilled ink!
One more successful link.

The Storm invites all in
To her push and pull and spin.
Give in and go agog,
Melt into the fog.

Part IV

Kew’s toes went down to tread
Night sky as newest stars.
Storm pushed apart the threads
Of oddest thoughts up in his head
And set them aside in jars.

While those thoughts are all of ours,
From the best to the worst,
From the blessed to the cursed,
She cherishes the most bizarre
And she did have them first.

The Storm invites all in
To her push and pull and spin.
She’s as giving as she’s frightening,
You can live on her lightning.

Part V

Storm sends herself out from her skies,
She spins herself into the crowd,
That’s why there’s lightning in your eyes,
Why there’s thunder in the wise
And bunnies in the clouds.

Kew is in and is both me and you,
Yet we’re our own and different beasts.
It’s how the old can make things new,
How the never been comes true
And how we matter, every piece.

The Storm invites all in
To her push and pull and spin.
Beautifully unconstrained –
It’s easy to love in the rain.

(Read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV.)

Storm sends herself out from her skies,
She spins herself into the crowd,
That’s why there’s lightning in your eyes,
Why there’s thunder in the wise
And bunnies in the clouds.

Kew is in and is both me and you,
Yet we’re our own and different beasts.
It’s how the old can make things new,
How the never been comes true
And how we matter, every piece.

The Storm invites all in
To her push and pull and spin.
Beautifully unconstrained –
It’s easy to love in the rain.

People are the worst ones
But boy do I love persons.