PICTURE THIS

It is stuff of legend,

this inch-wide ribbon draped

round my neck like a snake

or priestly stole cut short.

When – as maroon festoon –

I leave it trailed across

the plate, I’m sometimes asked

for an explanation.

See the roughly painted

letters: left, right they show.

For we must know which side

in case of amputation.

Look. Here is its measure –

one metre, tube to skin.

Or near as my hands could,

all needle-clumsy, sew.

And, to mark exposure,

a cipher woven in.

No matter what the angle,

it makes your image mine.

 

v. 2020