As I look through a peep hole I see wonders of many kinds
A part of me fears what may be in front of me but a hole so small can only show so much
A box bigger than me, more mindful than me more experienced
A world I fear, opinions I don’t want to hear
Placed into a small peep hole to show why I should stay in here
But the box, it says that it’s supposed to protect, guide, shelter but all I feel is stuck, small, controlled, and unseen
The box does provide but it crashes my whole world placing materialistic things in my eyes tools to distract me from my placement
But once again I see the peep hole
Always reminding me of what is happening
It puts me in the position of losing who I think I am and what I want
Without the box, is there any identity?
A placement that has been made in your life to be seen as a shelter
Has it come to harm?
A constant song in my mind repeating “if you knew me at all, you wouldn’t try to keep me small”
A part of me, wants to stretch my arm out to be shown to the world
To make my own opinion to be my own being
An identity that is not placed by the box
Every now and then I say, you can’t put me in no box
I am my own, and my own am I
The motivation I aspire to have continuously
But when the motivation dies, my heart longs for control
I look in the corner of the box, distracted by all of the wonders of the world in a peep hole
I see a piece of paper, crayon, and some markers
I think to myself “oh maybe the box put it here”
I grab the crayon and I draw until that same peep hole disappears and becomes less than a thought
I place the paper in the peep hole to hide its wonders
… But a part of me knows that once the box becomes filled with drawings the distraction will wither away
And face to face I see the peep hole
A reminder of what I can’t have but a life I desire
Aaralyn Hunter is a junior at West Chester University majoring in Harp Performances ah1050881@wcupa.edu