chameleon

with all your various affectations

you are a study in adaptation.
in fact, your body is replete
with parts made specially for deceit.
from spiny tail to parrot feet,

bulging eyes and horny head
without these you might just be dead.
but, one thing I must confess,
though saying so might cause a mess,
I find that your most helpful trait

(and one that many emulate)
is not one of my favorite.
crimson, amber, indigo,
tangerine, tea green, peridot,
chartreuse, emerald, cobalt blue,

you conform yourself to any hue.
perhaps these are just sour grapes
that in your ever-changing face
I once hoped to find a trace
of simple reptilian grace.

I found instead in your devices
a commonality to similar human vices
namely, that of identity crisis.
so no one knows where you begin
or where you end or how

to ferret in your grin sincerity
from fitting-in. in other words,
I think I must (although you might
call me unjust) compose a poem
for some other animal I trust!