The Pumpkin.
Oct 31, 2023
For many months after halloween this pumpkin was rotting on a shelf I walked by every day. More than a year later (2023) there is still an imprint of it.
Here’s a musical theatre inspired piece about it I wrote at the Kodály Summer School 2023 but split off from the rest of the poems I’ve posted here from that one-night session as it’s a bit different from the others. The point was to set it to music, and the phrasing lends itself very much to a version, but might leave it like this for now with its heartfelt amongst silliness moments.
The Pumpkin
A book from off the shelf, That no one ever chooses. Its cover’s not itself, Despite the make-up that it uses.
A fairy tale collection pops a spell I change complextion And I look the part, through some dark art? I’ve got no recollection.
A quick transfiguration, a nice dress, imagination And I’m happy among friends and they can tell. But I leave the celebration to a midnight dampened station And hear shouts and taunts and laughter as they break right through the spell.
A bit of temporary magic, a little finger snap, It was beautiful til midnight now it’s back to feeling crap.
The summer it was dreadful more than I could take. Stuck inside a costume that I tried but couldn’t shake.
Still when it’s dark I am myself. Not as I’m always seen. But then I’m back onto a shelf a pumpkin after halloween.
I’m here, I’m here, I’m here can you hear me? Take a glimpse beneath the skin. I’m me, I’m me, I’m me can you see it? Not the cover I was born with but the pages tucked within.
Spells and imagination they made me feel OK, Dressed in beautiful things til they cut all the strings and take everything away.
If I sing, if I sing, if I sing will you hear me? I can’t sing but I’ll close my eyes and try. On your commute, I don’t refute this costume’s not a friendly suit But I still shout out as you shrug and pass on by.
I’m here, I’m here, I’m here can you hear me? Take a glimpse beneath the skin. I’m me, I’m me, I’m me can you see it? Not the way I look to everyone but how I feel within.