The Lizard Side



I walked to these flat rocks

to ask my mother why she called me to this earth.

I do not have a camera. I have only this sharp rock

in my chest

and my luminous pen, the one that catches

thoughts. I see everything

from this plane. There once was a river

channeled in two directions.

Tears vaporize. I breathe in

watch another self form across that rift.

Emerging from dry sleep

I am reptilian

a fast catching god

wick tongue tasting tiny wings and crawling mortals.

I wonder if I am too large to see

or if I vibrate across a liquid boundary

a whole image to alert to and slip away from.

Ridged under skin

I am thin

a rolling magician

disappearing from bird shadows.

When I turn my back on this flat land falling behind me

I will pack out my ink

and this sharp rock for lizard shelter.



Copyright 1996 Beridha Beridha.

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