Warning Label [November 2007]

I am a

pansexual
polyamorous
genderfluid
species-shifting
polytheistic
switch

and what
does all this
make me?

greedy? says a t-shirt and
an icon or three and
(with less humor, more scorn)
the gays and straights and monogamous sorts

indecisive? unable to commit,
choose a this-or-that -
make up my mind, pick a side
define the edges of a solid box
(why must I?
does anyone fit so neat and snug
into such things, with no edges hanging out,
no squeezing into discomfort?)

or maybe
it's just that
I don't believe in absolutes

and maybe
it's just that
I think nothing and no one
stays the same

That we extend beyond the boundaries of skin
and there is more to me than what you see
or even what I show

and there is maybe more to You
than you have ever dared to seek.

I escape definition
because I am a flickering, shapeshifting,
role-changing, look-from-every-angle,
turn-it-on-its-head
jackal-child
bathed in
phoenix-change

I come with a warning label
and it is this:
Under Constant Construction

. . .

Hardhats recommended at all times.