.

Moth-flat,

flecks and speckles

so exact

all along it,

.

as if the

mosses that

it’s on

lie upon it,

.

the branch’s

echo —

a leaf-tailed

gecko.

.

Uroplatus henkeli – Henkel’s leaf-tailed geckos have markings identical to the bark on which they lie. A flap of skin around their bodies breaks up their outlines and makes them even more cryptic. They are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

.

This poem is in my book Animal Magic, which is available from:

IRON Press and Amazon and bookshops.