Gestalt

I can't remember that far back
but I'm told that when I was born
I was cast from the finest image
out of marble, gold, and jewels.

The first thing I can remember, though
is tripping and falling as a child
when my knee hit the ground,
it broke into pieces

I glued them back on as best as I could
ensuring that every piece was back in place
but from that point forward,
I could never be perfect again.

Over time, more little pieces broke off
Sometimes I could not find them all,
so I would use clay
as it was easy to shape into the empty holes

When I reached the tempestuous age of youth
I spoke a word which angered my peers
and a swift punch in my face
forever ruined my visage.

As time wore on, the damage caused cracks to develop
and my limbs broke, one by one
I did my best to repair them
but they just kept breaking again

And then the buzzards came
and slowly picked the gold and jewels off
of my cracked and broken skin
until there were none left to take

But some of the jewels had been my eyes
so I found two coins of the lowest value
that no one would steal from me
They did anyway, occasionally, which was why I always kept a spare hidden.

I broke so many times in different ways
that I was putting pieces back
into the wrong places
because I couldn't tell which pieces they were supposed to be

Was that a shin or a forearm?
I did not know
If it fit in a place, that's what it became
and if it fit nowhere, then maybe it wasn't mine to begin with

Eventually most of the marble became irreparable
or it became sullied to the point where
one could not tell what it was anymore
and I had to forage for things to replace it

And so, over time, I cobbled myself together
pieces of sand and dirt and bits of glass for skin
and wood for bones
condemning me to forever rot from the inside.

Knowing my strong arm had to endure to keep rebuilding
I saved all of the iron and metals for its creation
so I would always have something
to keep from falling completely apart.

But the metal was cold and heavy
and removed any traces of gentleness from my embrace
and it rusted just enough
that whenever I ate, I could taste its oxidation over the food.

They all spoke behind my back
and the boldest to my face
that I was a monstrosity
and an offense against our design.

They were convinced I was an insult
to their perfect flesh
and to the one who cast their bodies
of beautiful marble and jewels.

"If you are broken,"
they cried aloud,
"Then you should just roll over and die,"
and none raised a question to their sentiment.

But I never gave up
I pressed on, determined
If what I was was wrong,
then so be it.

In the end, when I could maintain myself no longer
I finally fell apart.
No one wept, they just swept my parts to the trash
and forgot that I even existed

One small child, however, understood
that while my image was not the most beautiful
that I was made of more than the ones who were pristine
For I was of many things, and I had made myself.

In a solemn gesture, after everyone else had left
he plucked one of the coins I had used as an eye
and affixed it to his chest, under his shirt
and tell small children of my tale until his final hours

It was more than I deserved.