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When you catch me

will it be in my nightgown wrinkled with sleep,

when the blankets abandoned my body

unveiling them when you’ve come to wake me?

When you catch me

will it be when I can’t bear the heat,

when my shorts don’t quite cover that last one down--

the first one?

When you catch me

will it be because the makeup’s off-color,

when some of the angry lines need to heal first?

When you catch me

will it be because of the band-aid wrappers,

or when nosebleeds come on so quickly

when no one’s around to see?

When you catch me

will it be because you’ve finally seen through my lines?

‘My God, why do you need to buy more safety pins?’

‘For the irony. For the irony, friends, that’s all.’

When you catch me

will it be because I’m too far gone,

not hiding it anymore?

When you catch me

will you look into my eyes,

say ‘You’re not the person I thought you were…’

--and maybe that’s a start.