Everywhere in the Background

It is a very stupid

Animal, or a very

Bold one that cannot keep hid.

Being not stupid or bold,

Being fragile and unarmed,

You’ve spent your life lying low,

So low it’s not even clear

To those in contact with you

That you’re, in fact, in hiding.

You seem obvious enough.

You seem like you might even

Like a little attention.

This is an important part

Of being unimportant

And not at all suspicious.

Sometimes you mess up and take

Being inconspicuous

For granted. Nothing alerts

People to investigate

Like someone sitting wayside

Quietly, alone, too long.

Then you turn innocuous,

Preserving yourself from harm

By seeming sufficiently

Self-sufficient and harmless.

You fade back in the background,

In the background everywhere.