Possessed Elmo

One thing you should know about me, I am the easiest person to scare. My friends know that if they move to fast or talk to loud I will flinch. Keep that in mind as you read this short anecdote from my life and remember that when I am scared I have a nasty habit of over exaggerating everything. Yet, this is how I remember it so that it how I will tell the story. With the closest version of my truth as possible.

 

One day after school last week, I decided to go downstairs to the deep freeze in the basement and get some ice cream cake (I know, I was excited too). Now, my family is currently in the process of painting the room that holds all of our random belongings we forgot that we had. This means that things I didn’t know we still had are beginning to resurface and be moved down into the basement.

Tickle Me Elmo, one of my favourite toys growing up. Granted, Elmo itself can be very scary when he is turned into a robot that laughs when you push him in the right spots. No one in my house has played with Elmo in a very long time. So naturally, we took out the batteries.

Alright back to the ice cream cake. I was walking down the stairs to get to the freezer and see Elmo sitting on a table with a bunch of other random things. I was immediately warmed with memories of my childhood when I played with my siblings and Elmo on the kitchen floor.

I turned my back to open the door to the pantry/ freezer, and all of a sudden I hear Elmo LAUGHING and doubling over so he ends up on the ground.

Naturally, I did the only thing I could think to do; kick Elmo in the face so he gets as far away from me as humanly possible, abandon the idea of getting cake, and sprint up the stairs, slamming the door behind me.

Now let me tell you, I have never ran up those stairs so fast and I doubt I ever will again. My mom went downstairs to find Elmo since she heard me screaming and was very concerned that I had hurt Elmo when I flying karate kicked him across the room.

She found Elmo, confirmed that he had no batteries in him, and since then my family thinks that I’m insane. I know the truth. Tickle Me Elmo was possessed and out to kill me. No one can tell me otherwise.

Image result for evil Elmo

Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8juI0e5PMV0/hqdefault.jpg

She Was Beautiful

She was beautiful,

Like stars in the sky.

Yes,

She was beautiful.

 

She was a product of self judgement

And media perspectives,

Manufactured each morning,

To destroy

The traits she’d rather not have.

 

She was beautiful.

Like flowers, fresh

And free.

But at the end of the day.

A flower is the most beautiful lie.  

 

The inspiration for this piece came from a quote writing journal activity activity that we did in class as a warm up one day. The original quote was by Arkaye Kierulr and her piece called “For Example a Flower”. I got inspiration in the lines, “For Example: A flower is the most beautiful lie.” In class we had been looking at spoken word poetry and had just listened to one that discussed media and body image. The ideas that were talked about really had hit home for me, but not in the way that I was going to be able to create something following a similar direction. However, when I got this quote, themes of a lie being presented through beauty was the first thing that went through my head.

I think that majority of our world is obsessed with looking being the person everyone looks at when they walk in the room. In reality, it’s not important like people think it should be, yet it has become a priority in most lives. People are becoming manufactured, we are becoming products of our environment, so that we make perfect versions of ourselves. Yet, the world has learned how to hide things from others splendidly well to the point that if we don’t like it we can just erase it. However, beauty like this is a lie, made to help people portray themselves in the best light possible. The only flaw with this is that humans are supposed to have flaws and quirks, and making them go away altogether goes against human nature and tends to set off a warning signal in others heads. Something seems wrong.

To me, people are set on looking like they have their lives together even when they don’t. This idea of manufactured people behind the looks and actions, though they might seem perfect, aren’t always as amazing as them seem, which is what I’m trying to get across in this poem.

 

Image: http://www.flowermeaning.com/narcissus-flower-meaning/

Dear…

Dear Death:

I was going to tell you to leave me alone forever, but I know all that’s going to do is hurt your feelings. I was going to tell you to leave me and my loved ones alone till we are old and cynical, but I know all that’s going to do is mess with your tight schedule. I don’t want you around, I’m not going to lie and tell you I do. Me and life get along better when you aren’t close to us. Death, you have the power to cause havoc everywhere you go. I know you didn’t ask for it, you just got the short straw when names were being drawn, and tasks being assigned. Of course this doesn’t mean I forgive you for everything you have done to me and life. However, it means I understand you are constantly trying to ruin the friendship I have with life so there’s more room for you. Our connection is definitely there, and it always will be, but for now, I need a break. You’re hard to deal with most of the time, and I never seem happy when you hang around. I promise when you come to meet me, on the day I have been scheduled in, I will not turn you away or fight you. Instead I promise to welcome you and follow you wherever you intend to take me.

Love, Tiana


 

Dear Time:

You seem to slip through my life way too quickly. I’m sorry I don’t ever seem to appreciate you until you have moved on. I’m sorry I don’t notice you when I’m having fun, but when life gets boring, you become my favourite companion to pay attention to. But most of all, I’m sorry for how much I hate you sometimes. How you seem to eat away at the things I call mine, working closely with death to take away things and people in my life forever. You are the most beautiful destroyer, but you are also the most beautiful healer. Time, you help with my wounds, not in the magical-now-their-gone type of way. Instead, you help make them less prominent. You help me get over grief and grudges, simply by giving me your company and letting me work through it on my own, you will stay as long as I need you to. So yes, I might hate you sometimes, but I promise, you will always be important to me, even when me and life are having fun and I seem to forget about you, I promise I’ll always be checking on you every once and awhile.

Love, Tiana


 

Dear Life:

You and I are the best of friends. I was a forced relationship at first, I don’t know about you but I didn’t really have a say in if we were going to be friends or not. But look at us now. I’m grateful this relationship has blossomed to what it is today. Believe it or not, I have decided to forgive death and time for trying to poke holes in our friendship. I know it’s a hard thing for you to do, especially when they seem to take away many of your other close friends, I think you should try and forgive them too. I’m sorry for the times i told you I didn’t want to pursue this relationship any longer, it was selfish and I wasn’t considering how you would feel. I know you’ll forgive me, I’m just a little scared for the day you stop trying to keep this friendship alive and it fizzles out. You mean a lot to me, thank you for all of the memory’s you have helped me make and all the things you have helped me do, I will truly treasure them forever.

Love, Tiana

 

 

Image: http://favim.com/image/473905/