Acute and Ardent

" Acute and Ardent "

by Suzán Jiván

Performed on YouTube

Acute and ardent
supposed
to have shown
a new-
fangled
shrewdness
becoming
pretty sure
of grandeur
in an ordinary
world
by unfurling
under a curl
and turning
furiously
to a judge
and jury
for rulings
on innocence
or guilt
As over-lapping
granular scales
with dark
triangular patches
some black,
some blue
like cross bands
in a glaring
arid and semi-
arid land
with distinctly
creviced females
and blandly
barred males
Clearly marked
as clutches
in clump grass
in sunny woodlands
and sandy flats
shy and wary
with splotches
and spots
between
femoral pores
found foraging
in the morning
eyes paling
in the damp...