I LAY DOWN LIKE A CATERPILLAR

I lay down like a caterpillar
but he wanted me
to lie down like a panther
one moment before the attack.
I lay down like a panther
but he wanted me to spring
like a grasshopper, thin legs
folded at each side.
 
The sheet was green, my skin white
without stripes. I took
the lashes of the whip
and reddened. I crawled
like a panther, legs
bent like a grasshopper’s.
I sprang. And even sang.

I LAY DOWN LIKE A CATERPILLAR

I LAY DOWN LIKE A CATERPILLAR