Self-Portrait with No Face

Self-Portrait with No Face

That way, you won’t know
what I’m thinking, just that
I once painted around myself,
like lowering a star-shaped
cookie cutter into flattened
dough, slicing into the grainy
matter to make edges. I have
seen how this ends. I have
traced around the idea
of my body without rolling
down the window for my
brain. If you think I’m
making a face behind
that paint, you are right.