Paper Dolls

I run myself through the cloning machine
Every time I meet you
[Meet everyone]
The back story that has animated my frame
The constellations of feelings
That tug at my face,
The way I hold myself,
An embrace against gravity
For that moment —
That gasp against the flash
Running through me like a photocopier
Spinning its electronic wheels
Where past and present versions of me
Collide.

They tell you how I've changed
Or stayed the same
[Oblivious to the conversations
Your copies are having with me]
And I am
Struggling to articulate the
Feeling of connecting with
Past glimpses of our personalities
Consistencies like
Paper dolls holding hands
In the mist
Of unreliable memories

Paper Dolls

[Playing with Rubik's cubes
From different angles]
Looking for a coherent fit
Whatever that might mean
In the moment
That our eyes meet.