Crab Season

I read my horoscope this morning.

It felt like a new pair of pajamas

I could slip into, crisp and silky,


Telling me it's okay to lay in bed

To drift to sleep, because I have always

Been what I am, sheets fit to my body,


Cocoon of self in words that curve

Around the central fact of me:

Stand up to Your Self, for Your Self --


Oh Cancer, soft shell with claws,

Side-stepping to the beat of your

Dream waltz,


Collecting seaweed to cover your back,

Pressure of the whole ocean softened

By the sway,


When I am ready

To wake up, to live out the day,

I will dress myself in something sturdier


But leave the silk pajamas

To be read again when I need them, to

Walk around the house in my robe

Exclaiming to the mirror

Christie Flemming