Self-Portrait as Question
Walking hand-in-hand with what,
who presupposes why, and when
huddles with where before skittering
off to its murky corner. Sometimes
I present myself as a shy minute
or a cloud’s effigy streaming across
a scruffy field. Few suspect the truth.
Answers ricochet from the limestone
wall, but no one nabs them. I react
quickly and offer the unknown, the
life I claim, my name, in return.
* * *
“Self-Portrait as Question” was first published in Rue Scribe in September 2018. Many thanks to Eric Luthi and the editors at Rue Scribe for accepting this piece and several others.
O at the Edges 
“A shy minute” or “a cloud’s effigy.” Beautiful.
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Thank you, Alison.
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These lines send my thoughts skidding like tossed dice in unexpected directions – right off the table with “who presupposes why”. You’ve answered an inner query: WHY do I spend so much time camping? Clearly because of the WHO I am coupled to, camped with. (Could never have envisioned this life 20 years ago … certainly would’ve declined any such. Good that others come along to re-toss our dice, huh?)
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Oh, I know! I never pictured myself in this place in these circumstances, but my dice were re-tossed three years ago, and here I am.
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