and you are
the sweet symphony
of tears
that lays me down
to sleep at night.

oh, such a sweet
and gentle sound,
like a hundred,
a thousand,
a million
screaming sighs.

(Monica Lin)

This poem is a published poem by a new author named Monica Lin. I own her book, Second Guessing, and it is a collection of her works. When I turned the page to this poem, I felt as if something lit up in me. This poem is like its very own love story, telling the tale of a broken man putting a woman to sleep, and that woman is the one who will fix him. This is a love story, and I am a sucker for love stories.

Dinosaur. When some people hear the word “dinosaur”, they think of T-Rex’s or some other big scary dinosaur. When I hear the word “dinosaur”,  I think of something completely different. I think of a big purple creature with a green belly. I think of a friendly beast that wouldn’t harm a fly. I think of my old childhood friend. I think of Barney.

Barney used to be my life. My first toy was a small purple Barney doll. I would never go anywhere without it. I was obsessed with that doll. Then I got introduced to his movies. Oh, what fun it was to spend every waking hour with Barney. I was never without my little purple dinosaur.

My parents told me that one day I accidentally broke his head. It was apparently the worst day of my life. I spent the whole day crying, and refusing to eat or do anything. I remember making him a little grave in our garden in California. They also told me that when they bought me another Barney doll, I was elated. I remember sewing him little clothes to wear, and trying to feed him some of my food so he wouldn’t starve. I still have that Barney doll.

I grew out of that phase, and many others after that, but it was an important part of my life. It was actually my first phase or fandom. Currently, I am engaged in a lot of fandoms, but I will always remember how Barney gave me a head start into this world.

 

 Photo Credit: Joe Shlabotnik via Compfight