Goosebumps

O! Goosebumps,

How they ridicule your purpose

How they rub and rub you from their skin

How they misconstrue your value, your merit, your service

Because you no longer serve us as you did 

When we were foolish animals 

You are not what they think you are, 

You are a siren sounded by our hearts desires.  

You may no longer be my armour, 

A warmth that protects me from the numbing cold 

No. Now you are a blanket, a comfort for the numbing soul 

I wear you like an emblem,

Flaunting the traces of you to all of my friends

Because you are a declaration to the world 

That although I may have shivers,

I am still warm inside.

I am still alive. 

You are the spark in my heart, 

splaying across my arm like a sleeve, 

A cry to the universe, 

telling it that I will savour my emotion

Like it’s the last I’ll ever feel 

Like a lock and my passion is the key, 

opening a safe of memories within me

Adding a new one for every bump I touch.  

You have given me a different kind of wealth

O! Goosebumps,

How I cherish you in the dark, 

when you soundlessly remind me that I feel intensely and unapologetically 

How your wave of dots across my arms is so human, 

Filled with anxieties and fears

Driven by adrenaline, 

driven by love, 

driven by life 

You are not useless, 

You are not intolerable, 

You are a blessing. 

So if I’m to live a full life, 

Bless me with your presence

Rise when that poetic verse sings to my soul, 

Dance when the music prods at my heart 

Speak when my fingers read you like braille 

For I am grateful to hear such a beautiful language

Be evidence of my story 

Visit my skin when that final symphony plays 

And don’t you dare fade until that last bow is over.

By Grace Plumpton-Hill