I was humbled last week that my poem won Honorable Mention in the Tapestry national writing competition! “Cocoon Breaker” captures an illuminating discovery about myself several years ago, as I bumped along the twists and turns of a small city in Thailand. This journey is etched forever in my mind, as much for the outward scenery as for the inward realization.
The “open-ended passenger truck” mentioned in the poem is called a songthaew, but my Word Weavers group recommended that I not use that word since no one knows what it is. So I included a picture of one below, just so you know!
I may include this poem in my next book I am working on. What do you think?
Is there an adventure you’ve taken? Or one that this poem makes you want to take? Or a sudden realization something triggered in you?
Cocoon Breaker
Whizzing to the airport
alone
In the back of an open-ended passenger truck,
Nonchalantly
holding my luggage with one foot
To keep it from flying out the back,
Bracing myself with the other foot
To keep me from flying out the back.
No doors or glass obscure my view
or protect me;
The panorama through wide-open windows
intoxicates my senses.
Gilded spirit houses, winged idols, tributes to the king
blur past me
As I one-handedly eat Kentucky Fried Chicken,
Keeping the other hand free
To grab the overhead bar for sudden stops.
The strong fumes don’t alarm me.
I only wonder if I’m sitting above the exhaust pipe.
I am suddenly surprised!
I have become someone I don’t recognize.
When did this life become normal
For an overly cautious, small-town girl?
When the Lord of the universe expanded my heart
He expanded my world —
Inviting me out of my safe cocoon,
To charge into that which He created me for.
Risk and love of adventure had been trapped inside,
Waiting for Him to unlock the door.
5eco90