View from the box

Whether carapace or quills
growth must occur.

To look in the mirror and be separated
from the body that stares back
erodes all defenses.

The bottling up of the voice that slips between gender
is as old as story itself

as Aesop's hare, who dared the sun
that he could hold his voice longer than the sun could shine,
and in doing so nearly lost his ability to trick his enemies.
He was given a pretty tail instead of his shout
to warn his mates.
Now he relies on speed, luck
and the ability to become as still as sun in midday,
the flash of tail that had once only belonged to the females
of their breed.

Adaptation is underrated, I'm thinking, and outside
the bathroom mirror, the rabbits eat, freeze, eat, and dart.

Like the rabbit I too eat, freeze, eat, and dart.

But the edges of that box are visible to me,
and what lies beyond
is too good to pass up.