Falling Away
Some say mirrors and camera lens don’t lie
having never learned to speak
but there are many strange offerings
a Truth is tall flightless bird
sometimes seen walking the rim of the world
flexing its multicolored wings
to show us it could fly if it wanted
is sometimes two of them standing a few feet apart
studying each other
not quite identical; one green eye
one blue but switched left for right
a long thin beak curling slightly at the end
like an reluctant question mark
They stare at each other each wishing away
the other’s differences as lies or impertinences
as in this morning’s mirror
two strangers surprise each other
brushing each other’s teeth
straightening a long-forgotten tie
they search each other for signs of priority
original to copy as each of us
has a thousand faces
some are a poem’s three layers a reader removes
fast or slow; a multicolored overcoat,
silk pajamas then a sly nakedness
last seen falling away
like mutual mirrorings of sands and grasses
hints out of a fierce solitude
becoming another body neither knows
at first a shadow in a mind of shadows
vaguely either door or doorway
The Dog Star 
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