See How They Stare

See how they stare
See how they stare

See how they dare
Stand there,

and without a care
eye me, with

that mix of fascination and disgust
only preserved for

the one-eyed ogre,
the two-headed monster,

the three-legged man,
the four-breasted woman

See them stare,
with bulbous noses up in the air

Watch how they look
at me,

their mouths agape, and
eyes wide like saucers

As if am some mammal
that is extinct, like

that lioness that adopted a dik dik
Ready to click click

their cameras
Like it is their first safari

Or, they have just seen a rastafari
in deep meditation

See how they stare
Heads bobbing side to side,

like puppets on strings
Amazed, as if

a prodigal son has returned
Stupefied, as though trees grow on the pores of my skin,

and mountains sprout out of my head,
instead of hair

See their chests puffing with self-importance
See them point

See them shriek
See how they laugh

At this skin,
That is two shades darker than theirs.

©, N.L., 2009