in the shade in the shape
of a shadow
i stood in the sun for three days once
singular and proud of my peacock pretty ordinance
and refused to marry the sky
growth was always my pattern
and bending
my habit
coy and shy
cut and displayed
thirsty and forgotten
i was always
about color
and you
stole my green
stripped my purple
and stomped my chartreuse back
into black and white
grey-lipped
soil
until i became
an abstract painting of perhaps
washed proud and stood clean
in the summer
of the river
of change
.
.
.
.
.
.
