cryptid
poem, poetry | privacy, dehumanizing others, the other, hiding, a wish, a blessing
I was told Cryptids walk among us Causing mayhem With evil eyes And cold hearts I had to see for myself So I sought you out As I knew you were one But I only found human eyes A human mouth And a human heart Perhaps the spotlight effect Shows imagined sins And shadows Cast upon you From others For those that seek to hide From the cruel, exacting world That seeks to find May your home be An intractable forest And a rugged terrain Where you may play; A deep, dark, murky lake Where you may swim and dive; An impenetrable fog, With a heavy cloud cover, Where you may fly; A moonless, starless sky Over an impenetrable thicket Where you may rest unseen.
Notes: At first, I started writing this poem in response to backlash against artists that speak out for their views and get major backlash for it. All of my poems start in handwritten form in my poetry notebook, and this one has lived there since last year. It wasn’t ripe to come into the world yet. I think the internet and social media does create a sort of tempest in a teacup situation in which some people are unfairly scrutinized for minutiae.
Revisiting this poem in 2025 made me think of people that are unfairly demonized in general by American society and now forced into hiding like undocumented immigrants, or the LGBTQ community. The far right in America is seeking to create a cult by creating out-groups and calling them evil or bad. By simply repeating these lies to the general public, people learn these lies and believe them to be true rather than going to verify facts themselves.
As someone that works directly with people that are demonized in such a way, it’s really hard for me to believe the lies because just about everyday I have conversations with immigrants and see their humanity.
I wanted to create a sort of protective spell poem for privacy and safety away from evil eyes and those seeking to do harm.
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