TO MOULT

And I slipped out of joint

Into new skin

Walking bare, and raw,

More lost than any other

The south star aligned

Without me

The stars above were unfamiliar

To a northern stare

Elina Le Merle, Melting Janus (left), RIP: Rot in Pieces (right), Pencil Sketches, 2021.

The derogatory beckoning

Of their thousand eyes

Had me transfixed, spellbound,

To the same destiny

With a new skin,

And the prodigal return to the self-same.

Kevin Le Merle