Origami

I needed to fold it
first in half
and then in half
and then in half again
wings up
careful not to tear
push it down into a square
and turn it over
and then fold it over
in eighths
and then each eighth in half again.

It was brilliant and crisp
cascading curls of clouds
and mountain peaks in pink
like a blush
A raw sheet
to be turned
with exact folds
into one of so many different things.

I wasn't careful.
I should have been more careful.
It was one piece
and I wasn't careful.
I made no perfect shape.
Just folds that turned a whole thing into what.

So now I am just folding it
first in half
and then in half
and then in half
and then in half
Until it is tiny
and creased
and its colors are hidden and undone.