I see them
peeking around my mouth and eyes
mostly after smiling & laughing
though some come from frowning & worrying.
They show up on my shirts
because I refuse to iron anymore
after years of teenaged Sundays spent
with baskets of wrinkled laundry.
When I discover a new secret boyfriend,
there they are
between my flirty questions about movies or groceries
and my happy marriage.
In my classroom
when I meet students
who have been denied a loving mother,
who need to reject me in order to survive,
who keep me up at night, despairing,
I see them.
