smooth back the wisps of hair. and again. scrape your bottom lip on your teeth. feel it--there. ouch, just a little bit. pull your skirt on, like that. slip through. there. frown at the tiny scrape on your forearm, where you cut yourself doing laundy--yeah, that's right. (laugh) adjust the band on your underwear so it's flat and comfortable across your stomach. yep, there you go. smooth out the plane of the cloth of your shirt, over your ribcage...light, feathery expanse. and. wriggle your shoulders slightly to put everything in its proper frame. just slightly tilted, off center, one shoulder kinked and raised more than the other. there you are. comfortable.

looked up at the glass. notice those natural shadows, bedcaves swept around your eyelids and beneath the bottom rim of your eye. not sure why, but instead of tired it's almost like pretty. brush that pesky straggled strand of hair from your temple, again. as you reach to put your shoes on. laces. mmhm. tidy. neat.

button up your cardigan, carefully, methodically. all set.

laugh at the girl in the mirror, your offtrack notions

of possibly maybe even

being beautiful for once