A cuttlefish could

First published in The Suburban Review, #33: HYPE, Mar 2024

cloak into a shade of coral reef

you've never dreamed. Have you seen

them turn invisible? No, you haven’t. Their colours

are crisp, magnified by kaleidoscopic

sea water because every water poem I’ve heard

is read through blue cellophane.

Known as the chameleons of the sea

yet cooler than any chameleon, with the bonus

wow factor of a magic trick playing out underwater

—the suspense of it. A cuttlefish is a magician  

wriggling out of their chains in a glass box
at the bottom of a pool. We don't see how this one

gets out alive but they do. They do. A cuttlefish could

be anything: baby fist of melted skittles

or inspirational tea towel, holographic seahorse

fridge magnet or multicoloured

ransom note. A cuttlefish could write a secret

world into being with invisible ink

and I would savour it, held low over naked flame 

to drink their language like scripture.