Chameleon

Barbara Weatherby

I laugh when others laugh,

            but offer naught to conversation;

                                    standing still against a shaded wall

                                                observing without participation.

Music flows all around me, 

            an invitation to let go and dance.

                        I  decline for I might look foolish;

                                    probably best to not take the chance.

Everyone around me seems 

            smarter, cleverer, unafraid;

                        their lives bright with opportunities

                                    while my dreams slowly fade.

I wish I were a Phoenix,

            reborn an indomitable spirit

                        with wings to test the winds

                                    and the courage to commit.

But wishes are only imagination,

            vaporous thoughts with no subsistence.

                        It takes resolve to risk being noticed

                                    and action to bring into existence.

Yet, how can I move forward

            when filled with trepidation?

                        Can I fit in if I think I don’t belong?

                                    Am I ever to remain the shy chameleon?

Barbara Weatherby lived most of her life as a shy introvert and always had difficulty communicating with others. It was only when she and her husband and moved to the Ozarks of Arkansas that her life changed. She became so enchanted with the beauty of nature surrounding her that she wanted to express her feelings. She decided if she could not verbalize them, she would write. She then discovered that sharing her poetry was a pathway to connecting with people.