I alternate between pale-skinned and burnished gold In the summer I step over the sun's Threshold and melt into this copper-coloured skin If I believed in reincarnation there would be a Hundred different souls stuffed like silk inside me If you slit me open I would spill these Colourful contradicting identities like an oil slick This difference dyeing the street all my shapeshifting tints My blood would leave a stain shimmering the colour of Fire Opal A chemical curiosity Turn me over in your hand Watch me catch the light a thousand different ways Each facet of me blinding I'm iridescent Brilliant I'm like Argus with a thousand eyes I'm like Proteus with a thousand forms I'm like a djinn with a thousand stories I'm abundant Bounteous I carry in me vermillion, indigo and saffron My bones are made of precious stones This difference My difference Is worth it's weight in gold