fool’s gold

i am a magpie
swooping with specks of mica in my eye;
i pluck purposeless baubles from vines,
nest them like daughters.
my reflection in your window is a black blot;
i am background,
i exist only in your peripheral vision,
a shadow puppet sultan
collecting glimmers and little presents
that might mean nothing to you,
but they gleam like bright coins in my hoard.
(would you suggest i can ill afford?
what’s it to you?
have you no purposeless baubles of your own?)
so yes, then---i am a magpie
swooping with specks of pyrite in my eye.

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© 2024 nessa jasper