(Special thanks to Rev. Thomas Thorn)
I wore small shoes,
And my mind was fresh,
When you and I first met.
Beneath a blanket,
On a couch in a fever,
In front of the television set.
An angry wind,
Rattled the windows,
As I clutched that blanket in fright.
On the monochrome screen,
The creature appeared,
Such a terrible, beautiful sight.
He turned to the camera,
Rocking ever so slowly,
Lit only by a Stygian moon.
I gasped in delight,
At his dead-eyed stare,
And felt myself starting to swoon.
I was frozen in awe,
Of what I just saw,
And knew I would never forget.
But forgotten were my ills,
Forgotten was that wind,
Forgotten was my feverish sweat.
This lumbering beast,
This monstrous hulk,
I had never seen such as his kind.
His story unfolded,
On that television set,
Each scene was now burned into my mind.
Seeing him tortured,
Seeing him bound,
Made thoughts run amok in my head.
My fear turned to pity,
As I watched this beast,
Sympathy then grew from my dread.
Smiling by the lake,
With flowers and a friend,
Filled with such childlike glee.
What happened next,
Brought a visceral shock,
Forever changing me.
The villagers came,
To bring him down,
Her murder had driven them mad.
He meant her no harm,
Wanted only to play,
But the way the game ended was so sad.
Even his creator,
Who had given him life,
Now lived only to see him die.
And the spinning blades,
Of his funeral pyre,
Brought fiery death from the sky.
I feared not for his father,
I feared not for that mob,
I feared not the justice they served.
I feared only for him,
That pitiful creature,
His agony striking a nerve.
And I saw myself,
In that wretched beast,
My secret the whole world could see.
Their ignorance so savage,
They called him a monster,
I saw only a reflection of me.
I was also the one alone,
I was also the hunted,
I was also always misunderstood.
It was at this moment,
I was never again lonely,
My companion throughout childhood.
I am now an adult,
But I will always remember,
The gift I was given that day.
With the monster in my mind,
I never once felt alone,
In my heart…he always will stay.