The Beast Arose

Daily writing prompt

Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?

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This is the animal that never was.
Not knowing that they loved it anyway;
its bearing, its stride, its high, clear whinny,
right down to the still light of its gaze.

It never was. And yet such was their love
the beast arose, where they had cleared the space;
and in the stable of its nothingness,
it shook its white mane out and stamped its hoof.

And so they fed it, not with hay or corn
but with the chance that it might come to pass.
All this gave the creature such a power

its brow put out a horn; one single horn.
It grew inside a young girl’s looking glass,
then one day walked out and passed into her.

Rainer Maria Rilke: Sonnets to Orpheus II:4

I am human and comparing myself to an animal would offend all these wonderful creatures.

We humans think we are smarter yet we act so mindless and are clearly the worst beast. We are the monster you can’t imagine because no thought can be as cruel as human reality is.

I wish to be a unicorn.

Seen only by the ones with a kind heart, understood by a few, and misunderstood by most. Unique like a unicorn, living in an enchanted forest far away from war and violence that sounds wonderful.

A replica of the tapestry below hangs in our living room. It has a story. We bought it when we couldn’t afford it, but we needed it to set the tone for the new chapters in our lives. Twelve years later it still hangs on our wall as a reminder of who we are, and what we are made of. Long story 🙂

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