Chameleon Thoughts is one of three poems Danielle chose to share with Poets of the Caribbean readers. I enjoyed reading this poem, and I hope you will too. As usual, I would love to have your feedback, so feel free to share your chameleon thoughts or experiences!
Copyright 2011 Danielle Boodoo-Fortune
Reprinted with author's permission.
Chameleon Thoughts
I
I wear this chameleon around my neck
to keep myself from changing.
I go from fire to fire
with each new skin,
spin prophecy,
secrete visions,
shed my face again
with the turning of the moon.
This last incarnation
must not kill me yet.
I have a little luck
left.
II
I bought the chameleon pendant
from a man at Store Bay who
promised it was lucky.
I bought it on a morning when
I wasn’t quite sure who I
was trying to be,
found it underneath
one massive shark tooth,
stone phallus on a string
and rough clay terrapin.
The chameleon, trapped
on flat brown medallion,
could not change
as he wanted to
and at the moment
neither could I.
III
We fear chameleons too much,
want things to be just as they seem,
we, who sell raw heart meat
to strangers, burn bridges, use
God’s name without permission,
We want our small dragons
to stay green, pocket-sized,
always crushable in good conscience.
IV
Like a good chameleon,
I change when my skin
tastes danger.
Right now, I am not the one
you wanted. I am a shade alien,
I climb poisonous trees,
turn my open mouth
to the breeze.
I am not the one you
hoped to find when
you hatched me.
Perhaps you wanted
something softer, like
a pony or a butterfly.
But here I am: telescopic
eyes and all, lizard
waiting for wings
under the trees’
leaving.
V
I don’t know if this pendant
will withstand the water,
but I wear it anyway.
In the hollow
of my collarbone
it rests, warm
brown stone,
for the moment
unchanging
like me
until I decide
to turn
again.
Copyright 2011 Danielle Boodoo-Fortune
Reprinted with author's permission.
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