These lines on my face
are in only pencil:
erasable
preliminary sketches.
Twitch the slightest twitch
and they sink back into my
paper
skin.

These are my pre-creases:
prep for my
forehead mountain folds
eyeline valley folds
mouth-to-cheek reverse folds
which still easily smooth away
with my expression.

My paper face is just
trying some lines out
before it gets out its markers
and deliberate origami fingers
to make some
real
art.

One of those weekends when my every word drilled deep into my teeth and echoed through my skull. The reverberations give me headaches and I can’t see straight. Can’t I just stay home and not need to be liked?