Cosmic Manifestation

An older cousin once told me,

"When you were a baby you had red hair and violet eyes.

Some of the relatives wanted to send you back."

As if adoption were little more than a purchase –

one where you better remember

that colors look different at home than they do at the store.

I learned to laugh things off and demand photographic evidence,

and to believe I swanned in from the same magical place

that produced Elizabeth Taylor, with her dreamy gaze

that contained fields of lavender at sunrise and mischief –

and then somehow adapted, turning green-eyed and blond

to blend in with my Scandinavian family.

Chameleons do this sort of thing.

They become one with their surroundings

as a protective measure against predators.

But left on their own, their skin becomes

a cosmic manifestation of shimmering hues.

Punk rockers of the reptile world, I get you.