I Should Have Stayed Flat

I’ve folded, unfolded,
refolded myself so often
that I’m starting to break
along stressed lines.

Look closely,
I’m now less single page
and more stack of fragments.
I don’t blame the world for that.

I tried to fit everywhere. The result:
I am a bit of frayed news.  A story
forced into a pocket, into different pockets,
too many times.

I never quite learned
that in order to be read
and truly understood,
I had to stay open.

I should have spread myself early
and then stayed spread
and available to others who might have wished
to add their lines to mine.

Now, though?  Here I am, a wad
in a pocket.  A mess held close
out of habit, something that really
ought to be thrown away.