My name is whatever the season brings, 

Turn me into a daughter of the city or the bearer of torch

A prisoner of the island or the rain of the night

A ruby in the sea or a shell of a gun 

I’ve strayed too far from home and lost my tag on the way 

My age he asks and i see the tree peeking from the backyard 

My grandfather planted it for me 

Said I’ll live as long as the leaves on it stay 

How long has it been since then?

They took my blood for a test and found no colour 

It was a sight to behold, watching scientist scamper 

Preparing the prison, fumbling with boxes on the form 

Somebody opened the window to let the air in and found my blood bursting into shades never seen before under the sun

I’ve been a case study since then 

They ran out of labels to identify me or a pattern 

So now I am a thing of amusement training for the circus 

The tools have become a friend we like to watch my nerves get grazed in the monitor 

Perform voices and put on a show of muppets with them

I climbed the box hidden in a corner,

Suddenly there was a hand in front of me,

Then a laughter that I heard at every turn, 

She told me about rubbers, threads and gods that live by the coast 

We played until the earth was damp,

She told me the sky cries when people run out of tears, and said to call her from across the field, 

I yelled..yelled..something……..what was her name?….

Who died that night? 

I don’t remember 

People call my name but it is your voice that responds 

You walk the hallway and hear my name in whispers about you

I open the door and it is your foot that enters first

You wash your face but it is my pigment that stains your hands

Where does your eye start and where does my heart beat?

I do not know

Your ribs poke my flesh, they bleed me dry 

My flesh feels dry, it craves your essence

The days stay stretching, the nights loudly weeping

The burns, the bruises litter the body but the owner stays unknown 

Is it your body that bleeds?

Or is it mine that retches?

Whose hand is shoved down whose throat?

Whose lips are sucking whose valves?

Am I you? 

Are you me?

Who is dead? 

Who is alive?

The identity remains unknown