Recognition

we are not obliged to tell you apart

we are a retinal scan, accidentally seeing more than wanted

we are your eyes, keen and myopic

we are stored in the hard drive, a semblance of order

we are fractal, tireless repetitions of self-same patterns

we are enlightened self-interest, awareness of what you’re doing

we are delusion, a bowl of cherries in mid-February

we are a string theory well-versed in paradox

we are immanent ends, knowing the means may never arrive

we are figures of speech, saying not exactly what we mean

we are skilled labour, too much for too little

we are holding court, waiting by trial and error

we are accountability, the past is our deepest concern

we are longing, a time before now is our secret wish

we are idolatry, stone-cold ideals of self-improvement

we are self-centred, avoiding complexity and clutter

we are autumn leaves, a clin d’oeil for the aficionados

we are algorithms of denial, circumvention at its finest

we are counterfeit, making believe that what is not is

we are colourblind, our strawberries are perennially brown

we are a hypothetical organism, a positive feedback loop of recognition

We Are Lichen is out of print from The Blasted Tree Store

Razielle Aigen

Contributing Author

We Are Lichen by Razielle Aigen is a Blasted Tree original collection of poetry.

ISBN [Digital]: 978-1-987906-87-5

Cover Design by Kyle Flemmer