Presents Inside

I have presents inside me
And so do you
Little packages of experience
Big boxes known and unknown

When we meet
When we chat
When we interact
When we dance and sing and love and fight
My packages, my boxes, my presents
open

Some contain stories of truth and wisdom
Others are epics of miss adventure
Some are fables of fancy
Others are tales of triumph and valor
Some are volumes of emotion
Others are catalogues of false notions

My presents burst open without even knowing
Showing me my self-storage
I wish it was free
It costs my time and energy
I spend my thoughts and emotions
I owe debts on my doubt
And interest on my interests

These gifts open themselves sometimes
Whenever I see or feel something
Who knows when it will happen
Sometimes a message or song
A note or a voice
Will remove the wrapping
Whether I like it or not
My packages
My stuff
My storage
Is raw and ready
To be ripped forth
To be delicately undressed

There are some that are hidden
Memories long lost
Reveries of relevance
Experiences of inapplicability
That come forth when least expected

They pop and explode sometimes
Nothing but a blur
Nothing but crude, raw sensation
Nothing but an emotional outburst 

As I slip and slide along this thing called life
My present and past and future presents
Reveal aspects, components, pieces and parts
Of my told and untold experience
They are displayed and played
For anyone and everyone close to the blast zone
These internal explosions
Are triggered by you and things and stuff
They allow, invite and challenge me to look
To see what's there
To behold and bare witness
To become plundered like a protagonist
In an internal play
For all to see
For others to play in their play
To be played like players in our own worlds
Our own tiny universes
Crossing over and intersecting
Into the human drama
Into humans' dramas

Like Christmas
We each play Santa for each other
Giving opportunities to rip open our presents
Stimulating new and old openings
New and old chances to dance
In our exposed hidden self

We bump and rub
Celebrate and revel
In what's there inside of us
What's stored
What's hidden
What has come out to play
In this collective and respective
Self and community
Revelation