cloak into a shade of coral reef
you’ve never dreamed. Have you seen
them turn invisible? No, you haven’t. Their colours
are crisp, magnified by kaleidoscopic
sea water because every water poem I’ve heard
is read through blue cellophane.
Known as the chameleons of the sea
yet cooler than any chameleon, with the bonus
wow factor of a magic trick playing out underwater
—the suspense of it. A cuttlefish is a magician
wriggling out of their chains in a glass box
at the bottom of a pool. We don’t see how this one
gets out alive but they do. A cuttlefish could
be anything: baby fist of melted skittles
or faux inspirational tea towel, holographic seahorse
fridge magnet or multicoloured
ransom note. A cuttlefish could write a secret
world into being with invisible ink
and I would savour it, held low over naked flame
to drink their language like scripture.