the burden of showing people who they really are

i see myself in an owl
     with pink felt fur and flower eyes

and tiny hearts etched into

     the backs 

               of his ears and on his belly, 

                           charcoal squiggle lines

he presses his orange wings tight 

to his downy chest, his beak dipped and round
like the top half of an exclamation point

                                          he carries a mirror

                       buried in his spine