There’s a part of me
as cagey as a cobra
silly as a seal
dingy as a dodo and sneaky as a fox.

There’s a part of me
as jumpy as a frog
squirrley as a squirrel
twitchy as a rabbit and stubborn as an ox.

There’s a part of me
as playful as a puppy
crafty as a coyote
obstinate as an ostrich and calm as a cow.

There’s a part of me
as angry as an orangutang
scared as a gerbil
small as a gnat and daring as a dingo.

There’s a part of me
as troubled as a pterodactyl
crotchedy as a crocodile
dopey as a dingbat and funky as a skunk.

There’s a part of me
as heartbroken as a hoot owl
anxious as an antelope
defensive as a doberman and belligerent as a badger.

And there’s a part of me as
as lonely as a loon
confused as a cockatoo
sad as a serpent and unwanted as a wasp.

But those are just parts.
The all of me is as big as the sky
and as free as a bird.

For Jonette, my own “play” therapist, with my whole heart.

And for kids — or anyone — as a way to put words to what we feel, and see that any one feeling is not the whole of who we are.

And in gratitude to Internal Family Systems as a modality for sparking my understanding of my animals within, though animals in specific are not anything you would find explicitly laid out in that therapy. But they are there. And animals are an excellent way to relate to the parts within. And fun.

Key
Poem — collaboration between Gary and me
Gary — my sweet since 2007

Note
The stories in this blog are excerpts from my memoir, The Organization Project. While they are true to me and reflect how I see, I acknowledge there are multiple truths, including my own which change over time, even as the events themselves remain the same, whatever they were. What I make of an event 5 years out may not be what I make of it 10 years out or 50 years out.