patterns galore

exploring a voice
a mindset
a perspective
is like slipping on clothes
to see if and how they fit
here too long, there too tight
altogether a bit off
or just right

until they’re known enough
warm enough
to the touch
of thought, sight, feeling
and you’re fairly certain
you have the pattern,
the colours and meshes down pat,
the seams of memories, quirks
and habits good and bad,
how they all fit together –

Or not.
Sometimes it’s all a pair of old clothes:
too small to fit, too familiar to throw,
or bundled up together in one glorious knot
hard to untangle with patterns galore
so subtle and baroque
they’re infinitely hard to spot.