THE PHILOSOPHER The Orn manages not to exist; Its use is this. A thing unique all firmly know That is not so. THE PRAGMATIST Tuesdays in Bernal Hill Cafe I meet to write with my Sharp-eared friend Monique. Pointed critique. THE RIDER They call me immature For dreaming I'm a mare Who longs for one wild ride From that lover purer Than the coarse and hairy Boys who smirk and swear I'll one day want to marry. THE BELIEVER Scoff away! But to endure As my flesh decays In a nation drear, I need my (call it childish) faith In her wildergrace. THE GEOMETER The Unigon is that polygonal shape Having one single infinite face. Contemplate with care! My blind studies show Witnesses all grow Dizzy; their discourse Mystical. Beware! THE BEAST Who sees her own brow? It isn't really mine. If not for you all yelling yourselves hoarse I'd feel free to be a mere Equine. THE POET Of course You can't see every horn. In my queer case, Minutes may pass ere strangers divine That nebular shine around old Horse- Face.

NOTE

At her writing salon, my friend Catshall dared us to try a list-poem like Wallace Stevens' 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. His had circles, fairytale images (glass coach!), and heaps of fake Zen... but never the blackbird's viewpoint. I thought, as a mythical beast myself, I ought to fix that.

Why do I speak as a unicorn? A long history of dreams saying flatly I'm not fully human. Recently I learned I really do have a rare mutation causing physical fragility, high intelligence but mild autism, an inability to recognize human faces (animals are easier), and a hyperactive empathy making conflict, competition, and predation near-impossible. Also rather horse-faced--but in my case it ain't superficial. Twilight Sparkle, all the way down...

This poem tries a rhyme-scheme I don't know the technical name for--surely I can't be the first to play with it? You flirt with a few key words but dance around them till the final lines; here the keys seem to be unicorn, queer, face, and, of course, horse.

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