Innocence Masqued

"There, there, now, he's only a clown!"
So soothes my mother,
as I cringe and try to hide behind her gown.

"Look here, now, his face is merely painted!"
So comforts my father,
for I am certain he wouldn't like it if I fainted!

"Why does he have to hide his real face?"
I ask, in my childish manner,
fearing that his real face may be only a blank space.

"Dear one, he wants to bring happiness to you!"
Mother's calming voice croons,
while I still search for a place to hide from his view.

"Come now, no need to be afraid of clowns at all!"
Father is smiling warmly now,
but I bet he was afraid of clowns when he was small!

"When I grow up I won't hide behind fake smiles!"
I boast to my parents, quite naively,
unaware that the clown and I would, one day, be reconciled.

Lora Frikken ~ 5-31-03

Naked Dreams

It’s a lovely day, a lovely day, I say:
Walking around inside of this church,
It’s a rehearsal for my sister’s wedding day.
Why does a church always make you soul-search?

I hope I don’t forget what to do:
You know, be the one everyone laughs at
For tripping down the aisle and losing a shoe,
Or dropping my bouquet of flowers after losing my hat!

And then, the big day arrives at last:
Everything looks just like a beautiful dream;
Family and guests seem to be arriving en masse;
No one wants to miss a single moment of this scene.

I’m...I’m rushing to get dressed now:
I...I can’t find my makeup, or my shoes, or my...
MY CLOTHES! Where are all of my clothes, anyhow?
Why am I stark naked? I’m so embarrassed that I could die!

No...no...this has to be a nightmare!
I’m walking down the aisle, wearing a hat,
Carrying flowers, without even a trace of underwear!
(Let alone outerwear!) I don’t think my hat will cover all that!

Why can’t I turn around and run?
I am walking in slow motion, people staring,
People laughing! Hey, are people pointing at my bum?
I have always been forward-thinking, but I’m not this daring!

Somebody pinch me! No! Not there!
Wake me up from this naked-dream, please!
Why do I have to be the only one who ends up bare?
Well, if this is my dream, everyone else must now striptease!

It’s still a lovely day, a lovely day, I say:
I’m happy because I was only dreaming after all!
Now that I’m awake at last, and find I’m still in my pj’s,
I realize I have learned something important from this close call!

Being naked in a dream is bad enough,
So make sure it never happens to you for real!
It’s no fun finding yourself running around in the buff,
That is...unless you live in a nudist colony, and then that’s okay because the entire wedding party is going to be naked, just like you, so it wouldn’t be a nightmare after all; but it might be a nightmare if everyone didn’t look like super models, because that could be a very scary ordeal!

Lora Frikken ~ 5-25-03

Closet Normal

Come on out,
Come out to play,
I’ve decided to be normal today.
If you come out
And say you’ll stay,
You’ll see I’m making some normal headway!

Hang on tight,
Hold onto your seat,
Sometimes normal can be bittersweet.
But just hang tight,
No need to retreat,
Being normal often makes me feel complete.

Out of the closet,
To a brave new frontier,
Normally everything becomes quite clear.
Open up the closet,
It’s time to be sincere,
Can I be normal without letting the world interfere?

Well, let’s see...
There’s no place like a normal home
To let down my hair,
Walk around in my normal underwear,
Not care if I swear,
Nor experience abnormal despair
Because I’m normally the safest there.

And besides...
I decide what normal is, for me, anyway!
I choose to open or close my closet door each day!
The normal thing to do can oftentimes lead me astray;
So I will make sure my closet door is tightly locked today...

Then ask myself the same old question, somewhat normally:
Where the heck am I going to hide this blasted closet key?

Lora Frikken ~ 5–4-03