2D Me

Suppose this world is origami and our minds are too
complex and ignorant to comprehend this 2D
existence. Suppose humans are 2D, then

we actually perceive and feel one-
dimensionally.

Look past the illusions and find
reality is just a straight line to follow, from there
to here. But neither here nor there defined.
No origin, just you—Let me tell you when
a soul is born, it’s pressed into a thin sheet
then folded down into a speck of

dust.
That’s you.

A point with no definition, confined to a line.
Fold along or around this line, the axis
of your being. Or reject this line, fold
from the corners in. Or let others do
the folding for you if you don’t have
the strength to shape yourself.
At least know what you want to be.
And be careful who you let touch you.
You are only allowed one soul to get it
right, get it crisp, and there’s nothing crisp
about a soul crushed beneath ten thousand,
frustrated, grubbing hands, pinched and reshaped
until you’re more scrap paper than crane or heart or star

or whatever you decided to be.
Despite the movies, when tumbling down a hill,

you don’t roll into a ball.

Your own momentum crushes you. We’re all victims
of unwanted creases, rough corners that

stack ruggedly upon
one another
to create clumsy clipped
wings.

It’s not necessary to get it right, of course,
or crisp and sharp. Fold yourself into a

failure. It’s okay.
Maybe someday when you unfold

in exploration of other shapes those old creases will help you along.
It’s okay if sometimes you wish for the world’s edges

to be just a little rounder,
a little thinner.

If you aren’t always turning a sharp corner, then you’re crossing

some sort of line,
or traveling on a line,
or waiting in a line,

maybe the grocery line, eyeing the candy bars on the store shelves,

or waiting at an intersection, listening
for an artificial voice to tell you

GO.

Suppose this world is origami and we are just a dot
on an infinite line, then the stars must be dots too,

waiting

alongside us. When you simplify yourself
to a 2D object, hills become plains,
the sky compresses in on you until
you’re standing on clouds,
and the world will
unfold to your
desire.