All these years I’ve known this person 

Every thought, habit, word and intention 

The personal struggles of mind and body

Beliefs, experiences, natural, spiritual,

emotional and even transformational

The way they adapted to every twist, turn and bump,

in a long road to adulthood and beyond

Reinventing a personality along the way

to match what was bowled in their direction

In cricket terms, never caught out or run out

Always savouring what felt good, being careful

not to jealously begrudge others good fortune

Understanding what it meant to stand out

but not really experiencing that for some time

When it came, it felt good but also dangerous

Will it last, can people see through the veneer?

Was all, and is all, this real?  Do they even know themself?  Why look to change it?

Perhaps ideas and time are running out?

Too many reinventions meaning they forgot who they really are. Or has it all been a game?

A facade, a huge case of mistaken identity?

The Urban Poet 2019