Unlike the rest of Error’s daughters,
Shame feared swimming the murky waters.”Why do you fear me?” The sea would ask.
“Why cover your face with your hand mask?”
“Why won’t you answer, so I would know?”
Shame never did. The sea didn’t forgo.
The tale of Shame, who feared the sea.
“Do I hide evil you can not see?
What of what lies in your own depth?
Where Fear, and Fight, and Chances are kept?”
Refusing to open her eyes,
that was then. Now see how time flies.
Today, impatient, the sea is clear:
“Open your eyes and see what you fear!
Set your sight on a worthier aim.”
The arms of the sea reach out for Shame.
She drags her in, and swirls her about,
Then into the Now, she spits her out.
Now Shame is conscious, and knows she’s here.
She’s not thinking, She doesn’t feel fear.
She’s where she should be, in space, in time.
eager to build a new paradigm.
But Shame needs new hands, eyes, and minds.
So, off she goes to garner her finds.
Shame hurries down to Status Quo,
and displays yet unseen Bravado.
Shame is met with Awe and Disbelief.
Yet, many still think, she is naïf.
When she reveals how she has changed,
they fear what’s known, is disarranged.
They hint to her past, and to a curse.
If she is right, they expect far worse.
Gone for two weeks, and where has she been?
She’s now fearless, but they are not keen.
They beg her: “Go back to your old ways,”
Back to the anxious of olden days.
Shame holds out, the new, will help them grow.
They hold on to what, thus far, they know.
They take her to the rocks, by the sea.
where she sat and cried, hopelessly.
In total darkness, they leave her there,
for the sea to rise, and interfere.
“You have returned.” The dark sea roars.
“You were not to return!” The cold wind soars.
“They forced me. Said I was cursed.”
“Nonsense! speak truth, or be reversed!
You had the chance to live as you are.
Out of your darkness, an avatar!”
“Wait! I now know what I have learned!
I was free, before I was turned.”
“Fool”, says the sea, “The lesson was Trust.”
“Give me more time. I know I’ll adjust.”
“You’ve had your chances. Now there are none.
What you have been, cannot be undone.”
The sea draws back, and the stars go dark.
The wind goes still, and the rocks are stark.
In morning light, they notice her there.
They gather, with opinions to share:
“She must’ve been evil,” some one says.
“We are now safe!” another hoorays.
“Let’s cheer the old, the same, and the past.”
“Never Divergence, was meant to last.”
“We shall return her, to the old sea.”
They did just that, but could not foresee.
Every new morning, Shame doth appear…
They can ignore, or brave what they fear.
© 21 April 2020 Jacquelene Martina.
Rewritten as a poem from a short story “Credit Curse” © 1993 Jacquelene Martina.
