The Red, Red World

It surely wasn’t inconceivable –
or so one would have thought –
that one could morph into fresh
shapes, much as some brought

themselves to unaccustomed volumes
of expanded consciousness.
But his dim mind must have
reversed: its little swampy mess

appeared alarmingly to curse
and mar his flesh: the more so
since, when he woke up today,
he found he’d lost his torso.

Where were his kidneys, back
and stomach, liver, heart?
Was this what he would be?
A human fraction? – lesser part?

He sighed: decided that whatever
he’d become, he couldn’t fake it.
And so he strode into
the red, red world, stark naked.


 
 
 
 
 
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