### **Paper Trails**

Here is the warning
that comes with the healed version of KJ:

I don't chase energy anymore.
I don't hunt for answers.
I don't kick down locked doors
just to see what someone keeps behind them.

But if you keep knocking on mine,
eventually I'm going to notice
the fingerprints.

Force an interaction with me
and I will read the room
you thought you entered quietly.

Bring curiosity, bring kindness,
bring chaos if you're brave enough—
but don't bring a mask
and expect me not to notice
where the strings are tied.

Because even the shiniest narcissist
has a soft center somewhere.

Press the right truth against the shell
and suddenly—

**Caramello.**

Cracked straight down the middle,
all that juicy goodness
spilling onto the floor.

And juicy goodness
makes excellent poetry...

**I've heard.**

See, healing didn't make me harmless.
It made me observant.

I stopped needing to expose people
because people have this fascinating habit
of exposing themselves
when given enough rope,
enough attention,
and apparently—

enough usernames.

So come hang out.

Laugh with me.
Talk with me.
Walk beside me.

Just respect the energy.

Because when something feels strange,
I don't have to pull the thread anymore.

The watchers watch.
Patterns repeat.
Accounts overlap.
Little coincidences start introducing themselves
to other little coincidences.

And before long,
the masks are sitting together
at the same table
wondering who made the seating chart.

Nobody did.

That's the funny thing about paper trails.

Those darn things
get **tricky**.

So enter peacefully.

Bring your real face.

And if you insist on bringing a character instead—

at least make them interesting.

I could always use
another poem.