to be flat
to be smooth
to be pale, drained,
to wear color,
to not let it wear you.

to be soft
the way that it is right to be soft.
to eat,
to not be eaten.
to curl, to curve,
to bend,
never to break.

never to change,
never to swell,
never to shrink,
never to smudge,
but somehow,
to live.

the set on display
is destined
never to be worn.