Abbi van den Berg (6 November 1980 / East London, South Africa)

You misunderstood me again
tangled up in your
misinterpretations
you heard something I never said
I’m a social chameleon
inching along the branch of your insecurities
switching colours and personalities
Hoping to dart out my
endless marshmallow muscle molasses tongue
and catch a
fly
of “news I can use”
a bit of you
that I can add to my pallet
and display as I’m edging along
another branch

I’m a social chameleon
waiting to regurgitate
what I’ve ingested at just the right
moment
with just the right quota of impact
like an inebriated gatecrasher
vomiting onto a
prominent part host’s perfect Persian carpet

Yet you still love me

I’m a social chameleon
flipping through nuances of myself
to find just the right shade for you
and you’ll remark
at how I understand you
and you’ll marvel to your friends
and mine about how I’m
just so easy
to spend time with

But you don’t see
my conic, pinprick black eyes
swivelling
one on you
the other looking for the next branch
preparing for my next guided strike

So I’m sorry if you thought I cared
but I have my fly now
and your mindless jabber has sated me

(07-11-2004)