A Delicate Procedure

Step One:

Wear quiet like perfume.

Not too much-

Just enough to make them wonder

If you were ever really loud at all.

Step Two:

Slip out of your name.

Hang it on the coat rack by the door.

Leave it for the next soul who needs

A history they didn't write.

It will fit them just as poorly.

Step Three:

Send postcards to nowhere.

Scrawl beautiful lies in careful script:

"I've found peace."

"The weather suits me."

"No forwarding address."

Don't forget the stamps.

Step Four:

Cut your reflection loose.

It's been looking at you funny for years.

Let it fall in love

With the next stranger in your skin.

Step Five:

Become the background.

Master the art of standing still

In rooms that hum with lives not yours.

People stop asking questions

If you answer like furniture.

Step Six:

Leave one mystery unsolved.

A single mug in the sink.

A song stuck in someone's head.

A memory so warm, it burns.

They'll call it a ghost story.

Step Seven:

And when they finally ask

"Where did you go?"

Smile (inward, of course),

And whisper nothing at all-

Because if you say it aloud,

They might follow.