"What's Next?"

Chameleon

hey there, chameleon:
what do you look like when no one’s around?

are you still the shocking green we see in photos
or is that the shade you throw up so that we
notice your candid look. The one with a sly,
beady eye looking sideways, like “oh,
you’re here. I had no idea.”

tell me, chameleon: you’ve spent
a lifetime figuring out what the world’s prying
eyes needed you to be. Well-intentioned, to
be sure, the curl of your tail was done because
you figured it’s what we wanted to see from you.

But the world’s learning new colors every day,
and at the rate we’re going you’d have to move a
mile a minute to try and capture every shade you think
we need. So, I have to ask, is it worth it? When you finally
uncurl that tail, is it with regret, or with a sigh of relief?

All I’m saying is that it might be time to venture out beyond
the branches we expect. To move away from our
prying eyes and go under that leaf on the top branch. Take
in the cool shade for a second, breathe air that is, for the first time
only yours.

Then, I know it’ll sting, but maybe peel off the scales of
the colors we’ve asked you to take on. Look at your own
pink/yellow/orange/rainbow/who knows? skin underneath. I bet
it’s more beautiful than any of us could ever imagine.

-2012