Unicorn

I shouldn’t have done it.

I’ve always shunned 

the spotlight,

always feared it.

Unlike the horses and dogs 

who play the game, 

perform,

do what’s expected

by their human providers, 

by their audience.

I’ve always been afraid 

of being seen

onstage

just in case

I was taken short

and golden notes

fell from my arse

and made 

rainbows

brighter 

than the spotlight,

upsetting

the lighting engineers.

I think we’re all the same,

we unicorns,

shy creatures.

That’s why we’ve 

survived,

hiding

in dreams.

Author's note

I love myths and legends, As a child I borrowed my cousin's book of Greek legends so often she gifted it to me! Unicorns and the myths surrounding them fascinate me—the idea of golden pooh, for example. In this poem I imagine them possibly inhabiting myths and dreams as we've come to believe or just maybe being a real creature so shy and successful at hiding that we can never be sure.