To Thine Own Self Be True

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE Big honest eyes Different to the others. Soft, shy, gentle nature: A sunlit rose among weeds, A new dress of blue and green. Now in a claustrophobic mask In the darkened room of a tent, Clown performing circus tricks Falsely funny for a coarse audience, Speech choked by noise, afraid to speak, Appears familiar to all but Who really knows her? Ugly duckling not yet a flying swan. Jelly the Clown Eager to please the audience, An invented person to be liked: Exploitation is invited - Throw a pie at her - Jelly is loved. Angela is unknown. A thousand eyes give no real love. Jelly inside aches to return To a weedless rose garden It was a new dress once. But dirty ragged cloth is unwanted In a room of perfection. An outsider which does not belong. Scream abuse at it - A Cinderella cloth to be bullied - It has rips and stains, Its real worth is shadowed, Its real nature is perverted. Use it and throw it aside after. The performance nears its end. Raising a ragged flag of distress, Big eyes penetrate a silent listener In the dark back row Beckoning to Angela. And two voiceless soulmates Return to the roses.