Slug

Triboniophorus graeffei, why
would a slug be so brilliant? Vermillion!
Where are the slug-eaters when you slide by?
All asleep in the treetops?
A million
old gum leaves soft-carpet the floor
of the forest you live in - such colour!
Down at slug-level there must be a score
of those greenish and grey shades, some duller
some brighter – but scattered amongst them are
leaves that are red; from the softest of pink
shades to some that are crimson. And so, far
from being too obvious slug, I now think
for here you are perfectly coloured!

That
story of letters purloined comes to mind:
when living in litter a slug red and fat
is part of the picture, so harder to find.

evenyet.net/jude