In the Shedding of Skin Cells

  
   
   
Thank you, electric Tiger.    
I know the strange,    
I embrace it.    
   
It’s either that, or    
die inside too soon    
to discover    
what you’re made of    
and who you really are.    
   
Tell me,    
how could you have    
been so careless    
just once around the sun?    
   
Don’t believe    
what you think is    
the truth— why not    
show the way?    
   
No, not that way,    
don’t go on    
about being noticed    
only for the erotic.    
   
Shouldn’t you know?    
It’s why I’m here,    
you’re a relic like me.    
   
Being a Tiger    
as I am, you have    
the authority    
and the will.    
   
Don’t deny    
your destiny,    
trivialize it or pretend.  
 
The worth  
of gleaming onyx,  
this belongs to You.