Invisible
I come from the body of no body
A body that declines to see itself in the mirror
understands self-protection
Fade is to fading is to faded
I am fluid margins shifting alliances
Solid matter an illusion a pencil sketch
that erases itself
outlines drawn in breath or ghost ink
*
I come from the body of camouflage
An octopus can change the pattern and opacity
of its skin to fool its adversaries
The snake absorbs vibrations to calculate the size
and heft of approaching danger
To read the shadows of a hungry starfish
a scallop opens its one hundred eyes
As a child awake at night listening for steps
coming down the hall I practiced
the art of smoke screen and misdirect
*
I am heat shimmer & Tule fog
a refraction adept at fooling the mind
my DNA composed of someone else’s
bitter union
Word to wind to rime
Look closer still you won’t see me
Candace Pearson escaped the big city for life in a small mountain town in Southern California. She has been published in a variety of journals and is grateful to have work included in Pedestal Magazine. She received the Liam Rector First Book Prize for Poetry for Hour of Unfolding.
