Joseph the Pony with the Long and Flowing Hair

Once upon a time there was a little pony named Joseph. He was the proudest of all the little ponies because he had the longest, flowingest hair in the entire Pony Kingdom. Most of the other ponies didn't like him because he was so arrogant, but Joseph just told himself that because their hair was mangy and dirty, they were just jealous. You see, to Joseph, everyone was jealous.

One day, when Joseph was combing his long and flowing hair, he realized that his brush was sparkling. His brush had never sparkled before, so he spent a few hours staring at it trying to figure out why such a simple object would sparkle like that. Perhaps, he thought to himself, that brush was in awe and wanted his hair to be even more long and flowing, so it would be longer and flowinger than even HIS hair! So he spent the rest of the afternoon brushing his long and flowing hair with his sparkly brush. Soon the sun went down and the brush no longer sparkled, so Joseph decided that he would go to bed and dream about long and flowing hair and sparkly brushes.

But when Joseph got to his bed, he realized that now that his hair was even more long and flowing, his regular old pillow didn’t deserve to hold his hair. That presented a problem for Joseph, because he didn’t know where ponies got their pillows. Ever since he’d been created as a fictional character he had had his pillow, so now that he needed a new one, he didn’t know what to do. But then the narrator realized that he needed a new pillow for his long and flowing hair brushed by a sparkly brush, and Joseph discovered that there was suddenly a red silk pillow resting delicately upon his bed. Such a fine pillow had never been seen throughout the land! Joseph had spent so much time worrying about his long and flowing hair that was now even longer and more flowing because he had brushed it with his sparkly brush that he was very tired, so he laid his head down on the red silk pillow and fell asleep, there to dream of long and flowing pony hair, brushes that sparkled, and red silk pillows.

Then, while he slept, the other ponies crept in, cut all his hair, and ruined Joseph’s happy life forever.

Eyes

The best poems are those that you find a year after you wrote them. For example, this one:

Too many confrontations.

Too many disputations.

We only have so much

and yet we try to use

everything.

So many places are for us to view

and see without blemish.

But that is disappearing

as people use up what is there.

The more we use, the less we can see.

Protection is essential

for keeping the world

a place where we can live.

Everyone is different and we all have different

ideas and beliefs, and even tho

se who believe the same thing

understand it differently.

A world without tolerance is selfish.

Demonic.

Careless.

Not having tolerance is like not having eyes.

You see only

what you want to see.

Without tolerance, man is blind.

He doesn’t see the similarities

between everyone.

But he is afraid of what he does see.

The differences…

If only he saw everything,

saw that everyone was human

like him.

We need to open our eyes.

We can’t see only

the color of the skin,

the look in the eye,

or only hear

the accent in the voice.

If we open our eyes

we’ll see the lives behind the faces;

the man behind the skin.

We speak of what we know,

yet we know nothing

and say so in our words.

For we are not only what is seen,

but also what is heard

and read.

For the world is not only what is seen,

but also what is learned

when we open our eyes.

You Don't Know Me

You Don’t Know Me

You don’t know me.

You never did.

You only saw a shell, instead of what was really there.

I could see how you saw me.

I always can.

I don’t mind.

I don’t really care.

I have this shell for a reason.

Maybe I do want to be funny,

To be loud,

To be seen.

But really I just want to be known

For who I am, not for who I seem to be.