Dog me, my shadow, your quavering like a dime-store cape,
mudsling me so I’m disguised, a wavy slur in rear-
view mirrors. Make me sip elixir of rain until
my tongue coils up inside my ribs. Till I hum my frowzy
drunken thrum and need a monocle to see. Bait me
into a cage where I’m starved. Unbolt me. For I’m sought
on posters, on gravel roads, and mug sheets. Kick me
past your feet. Let’s dribble against wild turkeys
down the basketball court, wood tokens flying
in our exhaust. Fog me with heavy breathing and heat
and only then I’ll admit defeat by birds. For this humility
I am ever twinned to you. With your bow, shoot sequins
into my earlobes. Mottle me with henna of raspberries, pierce
my nose with star thistle as a patch of crabgrass catcalls
in the wind. Look. A drone flies over for photos, zooms in:
I’ll be a known iota but for you, my avatar.