in the margins

for more on the decay of paper or the effects of heat on keratin conformation, follow the links!

    we break
with every stroke of our fingers
    upon the cornified ply
    of our dead exterior
skin layers separate
like peeling vellum
as we rub our face and apply cosmetics
    fall
snowflakes of a shedding façade

    we fray
as we dry our hair in the searing vibration
of a coiled and electrified filament
    forced out the end of a tube
    and accelerated towards us
    by a rotating blade of plastic
we burn our disulphide bridges
in the keratinous tangle of our scalp protrusions

    observe the dissipation of free energy
    the heat and the pressure and volume