“Vacuum Packed”

I stand still
Unmoving
Trapped inside the illusion that everything becomes as still as I

Things felt like this
Way back when I became the smallest I could become
I played the game of ‘Statues’ well
It’s easy not to move
To become quiet and still

No longer was I there
I hid with the unseen and unheard
Blending into nothingness

The place of nothingness exists
Suspended above the strife
You enter with nought
Into a vacuum

I could see my toys below
They always stayed behind
I missed them so

Here I floated remembering
An embryonic beginning
Always we go back to the beginning
When life threatens to overwhelm us

Sometimes I rock myself asleep
Swing on a swing
Soothing a frazzled nervous system

I perceive that the place of nothingness
Became everything
Vacuum packed
All the bits and pieces stayed in place
Dormant like the little child within

I wobbled for the longest time
Before the vacuum spat me out
Bits and pieces strewn across the galaxies

I catch fragments
Counting them before they settle inside me
I’m not sure how many I need
To make a total one of me

I keep collecting
Swinging on swings
Rocking myself to sleep

Someday soon I’ll catch a butterfly
It will have resplendent emerald wings
And dance upon the palm of my outstretched hand
Leaving joy imprinted into my skin

Vacuum packed I may have been
But beautiful things come from the vacuum
I know for I had to leave them there