Beast (Notevember 2023, #27)

this city can be terribly unkind
to those unfortunate souls
recently arrived, ignorant
as to its hidden rules
and secret rhythms
the correct pace when crossing the street
and the maximum time allowed
before random eye contact
becomes unsolicited starting contest
turns to unwanted flirtation
morphs into unintended threat

how many become nothing more
than a small rock in a great river
unable to settle
forced forward by furious flow
sharp edges tumbled smooth
reformed to offer no resistance
to the masses that have themselves learned
that you move or you die
or worse, become irrelevant

most days I feel like a chameleon
recently escaped from the zoo
flummoxed and failing to conform
the more I try to blend in
the more I am noticed
not as a fellow human being
but as a foreign creature
not a native knower at home
but an ironically uninteresting curiosity

I have spotted those
who by some clever insight
or, possibly, natural instinct
have found that quintessentially urban camouflage
seeking not to match their environment
rather, to stick out too much
and in so doing, become invisible
to dare to be too much at all times
colorful against concrete
honest in public
dancing in the subway
shunned like a disease
by those who fear interaction invites infection
instead choosing to ignore and avoid
pretending that there is no one there
no one heard too loudly
or seen too vividly
living too lively
because they have realized
that this city is a jungle
and we are all beasts.