subtext

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Shift

A lizard moves from leaf

to fence, shifting from green

to brown, quickly hiding

from prey and predator.

Today, he captures a moth;

tomorrow, the hawk feeds.

Life and death’s a disguise

I wear to hide the present

horror: the taut skin over

bone stretches to a smile.

Without camouflage to live

within, I pass to the last

third of life: I must change

to live, must live in this change.

(November 24, 2023)