...

[[ penumbrae ]]
.

.........brief this cluster of twigs,
.....their twining--
couldn’t have been a cloud
...........................in the morning;
.......a towering bucket of sand,

perhaps

.........the sun poultice spreads across
.........my belly; an ache
..............to grow dandelions
from umbilicus-- see if they dare slide
across body like hands
so often do,
.......................to settle on
inconspicuous skin,
only to find the bushes
are not hiding behind me,

half-observed

.....weep away shadows, umbrae--
......no sparagmos for ritualistic flesh.
....no votives could ever dim my face well
....enough for me to forget my face
...................ever existed.

this known:

the truth I wear as camouflage
......does not wear me back