A Turtle's Tale

In a world of his own,
In his private little shell,
There once was a turtle,
Who told me his tale

"I learned quite young my friend,
In this story that I tell,
That the safest place to be,
is deep inside my shell.

Hidden away from hurt,
From feelings and from pain,
I gain nothing to lose,
and I lose nothing I gain.

You see, my friend,
In a time yet long ago,
Something happened and
much pain did I forgo.

All that's gone now, yes, gone for good,
but the sad thing is you see,
It scarred me for life and a turtle I learned to be,

So I hid myself, deep within my shell,
As I watched the world go by,
I didn't believe in anyone at all,

We were here to live, and soon thereafter die.
I stayed hidden for the longest time,
Forever in my shell I would remain.
Judged by all, most as a fool,
but mostly by those I thought insane.

But then one day, the sweetest voice I heard,
One who proclaimed to be true,
Who said the words I hadn't heard,
That on my ears felt new.
but in my shell I stayed,
He didn't seem to understand,
That once you know fear you stay afraid.

But then one day, a miracle occurred,
I cracked my shell a tiny bit,
To hear more clearly the voice I'd heard.
He proclaimed to me that he was the sun,
That he could brighten my darkest night,

That great and glorious things would come,
With his gift, the gift of hope.
Though my fears still lived on,
I opened up to see the sights,
And to see with him,
At the most glorious of heights.
And as out of my shell I came,

I hope for things that had never been,
And dreamed for what could never be.
When I came out, I looked up into the sun,
But the light was too bright to bear,
And I was blinded for moments to come,
While he told me that he cared.

But it merely heightened my fears you see,
as I asked could this be true?
Those fears that came to me,
Have only strengthened now,
And then I had a choice to make,
For the sun is now scary to me,

To stay and be scared forever more,
Or re-enter my world of privacy.
So I drew my shell tightly closed,
And won't let no one get through,
Won't let them persuade me once again,
To do what they bid me do.

And so, here I remain, safe as safe could be
And this place, my friend, I find the best,
This private shell of my very own,
My quiet little nest of the turtle that is me.

And after this, I have but one thing to say,
The safest place to be, my friend,
Is deep inside your shell... the least painful is in your shell...

-Author Unknown