Carapace Poem by Marie Joyce B. Negapatan

Crawling in the sand
With a burden in my back
Hoping to meet someone
And adopt me for who I am

As I wait
Inside my shell
For a lifetime to bear
Will there be a friend
To share my life’s burden?
Someone to trade her daylight
For a slow ride in my back
Just to free me
From a solitary journey
To the middle of nowhere

But out of my sight
I never thought
There was
Someone like you
On a same island as I was
To notice me
This ugly hump
On my back
Your gentle smile
That carries me off
From the heaviness of load
Not found in every breathing soul

How I wish
You’re here to stay
To walk with me
Till the very end
To leave our footprints
In the history of time
Along the scorching heat
Of the countless sand
To unravel the beauty
Of this cruel world
I’m living in
Only to look beyond
The ugliness in me
And it’s all because
You believe in me
That I will win
What seem to be
An impossible pursuit

So just ride this hump
With me
And conquer the odds
Of a lifetime’s journey
Together
Let’s make a history
Of a friendship
Built

Along the sands of time.