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Pin

Here's a pin.
I know this pin is tiny,
Much smaller than me,
Inanimate,
Not capable of moving without my help.

I'm aware of all those things.
I'm realistic.
When I talk about the pin;
When I hold the pin;
When I show others the pin;
When others hold the pin;
I show my awareness,
Outer calm,
Rationality.

This is just a pin.

I show this because I'm afraid.

Not just of the pin.
(With its tiny but incredibly sharp point, that a person could place carelessly or deliberately so that it could pierce, several inches, into the soft part of my foot.)

But also because of how foolish I will look, in front of you, when you know how much I am afraid of this ...

One ...

Tiny ...

Pin.

Instead, I tell you of the pin, of its dangers, of how I manage its dangers by being aware of the pin; 
By my knowledge of its sharp point; 
by the knowledge of how to put that pin away, so that I can not stumble upon that pin as it pierces into that vulnerable part of my skin.

But I'm disorganised ... and in reality, when things are busy, I don't always have time to put away pins. I have bigger things to deal with, and... at the end of the day...

I enter the room, 
aware of the pin, 
afraid of its sharp point.
Focussed on the pin,
On the pain it would bring,
Were I to stand on it.
I step close to the pin.
How close can I get without that sharp pain?
I want to live, 
Without being ruled by a pin.
So shiny.
So sharp.
So small.
So insignificant.
So painful.


Ouch!

I'll put that pin away now so that nobody can see how much it hurts.

🌷(1)

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Comments

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Matthew James

Tue 7th Mar 2017 06:42

I like the idea that it could be about falling in love. It fits well and I'm happy with that interpretation. The meaning of the pin is quite personal to me. I guess in a way, the pin represents my emotions and my fears.

Frances Macaulay Forde

Tue 7th Mar 2017 02:56

I'm intrigued - wondering if the pin is the metaphor for falling in love...

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Matthew James

Mon 6th Mar 2017 20:00

Hahaha! Totally mate! My mum was the same.
You need to send me one of your poems so that I can illustrate it!

<Deleted User> (13762)

Mon 6th Mar 2017 09:23

I'm reckoning this is not about pins but it brought back painful childhood memories for this reader. You see my mum was very active in her local WI when I was a kid and would regularly hold crafty meetings in our house. To cut a long story short I was forever stepping on their lost pins!

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