Borrowing My House from Lizards

after Gary Eddy

Okay

you may find them there

in the Encyclopedia of Lizards

between lizard K & lizard M

exhibiting a tongue technique

that titillates some

or in a footnote about lizard X

underscoring a verified prehistoric link

or that they remain indispensable

to those in buggy climes

& you may linger

to ponder the many factoids

& peruse the bulleted lists

& marvel over the digital captures

or be wowed by advancements

in 21^st century lizard photography

Or you may find them

in a special appendix:

Common Lizards of the Americas

but they are also here

on my emerald curtains

zipping in & out of the nichos

peeking from the drains

disappearing into the potted plants

They are here

in the casita I’ve rented to resuscitate in

& I cannot crack their etiquette

I cannot shoo or lead them

or find the flute or pipe

that they will follow

back into the brushy jungle

of my overgrown yard

La-gar-ti-jas

my neighbor articulates

syllable by syllable

guttural emphasis on the last

the sound you’d make

should you need to hawk up a fly

lodged deep in your throat

down almost at the lungs

Little lizards she says

in a Spanish-Irish accented English

Legartijas

a diminution

like besitos or chiquititas or pobrecitas

little kisses little girls little poor ones

Little kisses perhaps

you would not argue had one

fluttered across your cheek during siesta

Little girls

in all likelihood

skittish to the end

& clearly tittering

as they scuttle down my corridors

Little poor ones

I should think not

fed watered doted upon

helping me to batten down the doors

the windows the skylights

for every uninterrupted rest