The Elephant Man attracts attention
He’s quite the rage as long as he stays in a cage
Or up on a stage
Barriers and Distance
Separate, isolate, and exploitate
The people who stare at him glare at him
Voyeuristic, morbid fascination and loathing
Yet, they cannot see what he desperately needs
Human touch
Affirmation
Validation
A kind word
Acknowledging his humanity
Could save him from insanity
The Elephant Man has a soul
A heart hidden beneath layers of grotesque flesh
Contorted, seized by disease
Subhuman, inhuman
Alien
His intellect
His emotional capacity
All too human
The need for love, fellowship and family
The soul is not the flesh, a thing of beauty
But pale in a spirit way
Because the flesh shelters the soul from warmth
The Elephant Man shivers in the dark night
Waiting for the dawn of a new day
Hoping a gentle spirit will bother to see
How he could really be
The Homecoming Queen attracts attention
She checks her hair
Staring at a blemish, an eruption of imperfection
Reflected in the cold glass
She moves away
Distance conceals it
She buries the blemish with make-up
Knowing she can’t make up for the hole she feels in her soul
Upon a pedestal she has no room to move
Walking on a balance beam
Lifted up for all the world to see and admire
She can’t even perspire or stumble
She has too far to fall
But that’s not all
She’s well aware of jealous sneers
Concealed in smiles
Revealed by teeth bared, lips stretched
They want to be like her
But they don’t know the price
Perhaps they’d think twice
If they knew how lonely she feels
People won’t stand next to someone
So perfect, so pure, so demure
Except to use her to make themselves look better
She walks a narrow path
Unable to unfetter her true desires
The Elephant Man and The Homecoming Queen
Can’t wait to be seen as they truly are
Sitting in the gym, lights flashing
The music, the rhythm
They watch others dancing and touching, together
Wondering whether or not someone might invite them
Into the mainstream of life
Into the community
To feel the unity of souls
The Homecoming Queen saw the Elephant Man sitting alone
She saw him breathe, a moan, a heavy sigh
Wondering why he couldn't ask her to dance
The Elephant Man saw The Homecoming Queen
Looking at him from across the room
Even she, the perfect one, couldn't keep from staring
They got a glimpse
Kindred souls bound by loneliness
Lacking the courage to take another step
Unable to break the bond that unites them like no others
They dance the dance of loneliness
Alone with each other
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