Shell

Shell

We learnt how soft the bodies, 
That grew inside each shell.
Stayed hidden and protected.
It’s maybe just as well.

Oh how I wish I had one;
A skin as tough as nails.
A body no one saw through, 
Which no words could impale. 

The lucky little mollusc
It’s shell so striped and tough,
Knows how to be a mollusc
Knows how to be enough. 

I’m standing on the stage here,
My cardboard painted shell.
I’m hearing nasty names said,
'You’re rubbish and you smell'

I’m feeling legs like jelly,
I’m more a sea-through thing.
I’ll never say my lines now
I can’t stand up and sing.

But wait I spot my mother,
Her coat of oyster shell.
Her shine inside I’m washed in.
Her knowing I’ll do well.

And suddenly, I’m speaking 
Outside my shell at last.
This moment lasts forever.
This moment goes so fast. 

I think while there is clapping,
If some it is for me; 
That maybe shells who open,
Shine both on land and sea.
Liz