fingers and toes asleep
i am porcupine
all spines-and-nose
taking careful cloud-steps
trying not to burst the bubble-
blistered dreams under numb and callused skies
one more injury to add
to tales rune-scar written
on my history-skin

~

multiply and multiplied
skin cells divide
thicker like leather
rhinoceros am i
charging like electricity
into predator-fray
herbivore-attacker
dream-spiller
lapping at the dew
of-history-me

~

shovel-mouth and down-furred
i am platypus
awkward and poison-spurred
swimming laterally
crustacean-hunting
i pry the shells from my prey-selves
i bury-in-mud
-and-
swim-somewhat-free

~

am i to be defined solely by
the sum of my defenses?

~

oh please,
track
-and-
kill me

10/25/2002

Author's Note: somewhere deep inside each of us is the accumulated histories of every creature we've ever been, and every creature we almost could-have been. there's a lizard in me, that even though i do my best to swallow, wants to kill you, no matter how much the primate in me wants to keep you alive. but like all good monkeys i have millions of years of experience in social psychology, i lie to myself well, i know all the tricks i need to survive. survival is our master. we do horrible things as its slave.

Posted on 10/25/2002
Copyright © 2025 Richard Paez