They said, “Be yourself.” 
I asked, “Which one?” 
The light changed. 
Turnstiles read me by my number.
 Crosswalk beeps count out my feet. 
Every shortcut shaves the city
down to what the timetable needs. I shave minutes off the morning,
make efficiency look kind.
 Got so good at reaching somewhere,
never asked who chose the line. 
Then one left turn breaks formation,
ten minutes absent from the code.
  No sign calls it revelation.
 Just a road my habits never chose. Made, not found.
 Choice by choice, line by line.
 No untouched self beneath the layers,
no true name I left behind. Made, not found.
 Wrong turn, right to decide. 
I don’t know who I’m becoming.
 I take shape when I decide. Ten minutes late.
 Out of line.
 No good reason.
 Still mine. I turn left behind the station,
where the arrows lose their nerve.
 Workshop static through the shutters,
rain redraws the painted curb. Someone chalks a second sunrise
on a shutter wet with rain.
 Nothing here was ever hidden.
 Habit kept my head from turning. The map marks deviation. 
The clock records delay.
 My lungs don’t name the difference.
 They just open anyway. Made, not found.
 Choice by choice, line by line.
 No untouched self beneath the layers,
no true name I left behind. Made, not found.
 Wrong turn, right to decide.
 I don’t know who I’m becoming.
 I take shape when I decide. Ten minutes late.
 Out of line.
 No good reason.
 Still mine. They said, “Be yourself,” then marched
each version through in single file.
 Every answer cleared the scanner
with its sharpest corners filed. Maybe there is no first version,
no sealed name beneath the noise. 
Maybe I take shape in motion
every time I make a choice. No map.
 No cue.
 No waiting skin
to step into. Ten minutes late.
 Out of line.
 No good reason.
 Still mine. Made, not found.
 Let the old route carry on.
 Every shortcut knew my footsteps,
never knew me at all. Made, not found.
 Wrong turn, right to decide. 
I still don’t know who I’m becoming.
 I take shape when I decide. Ten minutes late.
 Out of line.
 No good reason.
 Still mine. Ten minutes late.
 The old route hits its mark.
 I arrive with one more outline 
no map was built to chart.