Everyone knows

In those lawless days,

The poets are the first to go.

 

But I, dear leader,

Am a master of disguise

I hide in plain sight

 

Because everyone knows

A poet is a predator

And can’t help stalking poetic prey

 

Stealth is the key to survival

So I camoflauge

I wear my fear like skin

 

And everyone knows

That years of hiding

Changes a man’s shape

 

Until I am a shadow

Nobody looks for shadows

 

And yet, everyone (?) knows that

Poetry only needs a pause

To turn and stalk you

 

It lurks in shadows

Where nobody else would search for me

 

And everyone knows

Being stalked by poetry

Changes a man

 

Shadow is my camouflage

My skin is my own

 

When they come looking

They won’t find me

I have been turned into a hunter.