Keeping Up Appearances

However serious I am
I must match that
with appearance
for I will need some help
from managers and staff
of the missing persons’ bureau.
We’ll need fingerprints and photographs,
footprints and my DNA,
voice patterns and dental records
and their belief in what I say.
If they doubt or scoff at me
I know what they’ll do:
guide me by the elbows
to face a full length mirror
and wash their hands of me,
marooning me where I am standing
without ever finding me.