The Pop-up Book / Possum Paradox

It’s a paradox / I can—depending on the subject—wax on like a pop-up book / most of the time though I feel myself folding tightly / and I guess safely / the repeated folding has shaped me into a pattern / something like a pathology / with worn-out ley lines / smudging but not undermining the Rorschach memories in the crooks / bring up the right pop topic & I seem unwind like a Jack bursting out of its box / out of its seams / but it doesn’t take long before / muscle memory wraps me back into shape / shame / shelter.