by Mary E. Lowd
A Deep Sky Anchor Original
If you look under my skin
You’ll find a collection
Of several octopuses
Trying awkwardly to cooperate
To steer this human-skeleton-mecha-thingy
The octopuses don’t always get along
They can’t always agree
And a skeleton is a heavy thing
An awful heavy thing
So hard to lug around
But without it…
We’d just be sprawled on the floor
Pressed down by gravity
Squished to the ground
Being just one creature
A simple cat
Perhaps with a protective tortoise shell
A good hard exterior
Seems like it would be a lot easier
Than all these squishy octopuses
Arguing
Forced to work together
On the group project
That is me
Operating my skeleton
Like some kind of marionette