Not a ljósálfar, I live in no proximity to gods
and not a døkkálfar, I don’t live underground*
I am not good, I am not wicked
My(s)elf is middle-of-the-road
but like a certain kind of toad**
has its fire-in-the-belly
Not girly-girl or busy-bo(d)y
I have a shifting of shape
that affords me escape from all clutches
I’m free to go on poetry sprees
originate poems as changelings
sometimes retouches
Never beholden to gods
I’m odd––like a godwit
I wade through poem after poem
probing deeply I pilfer
concocting at last
my centos––Glee!
In a worded land of play
and wordplay––Free!
That’s me, my(s)elf
*ljósálfar––light elves, døkkálfar––dark elves
**Of the Bombinatoridae family––fire-bellied toads
Jacquelyn Shah, Cincinnati-born, has lived in New Jersey; London; Mumbai, India. She currently resides in Houston. Education: AB (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude), MA, MFA, PHD––English/creative writing. Publications: poetry chapbook & full-length book; hybrid memoir; individual poems. She was Gleam: Journal of Cadralor’s 2023 Pushcart Prize nominee
