note on a misread message

The piece was written
to mark a boundary,
a simple line
drawn around the work
so it could rest
as it was made.

But the reply arrived
as if the note
were meant for someone else—
a gentle lesson,
a moment of reflection,
a reminder to slow down.

The message was shifted
from the table
to the mirror,
its purpose softened
into something
easier to carry.

Yet the line remains:
some works ask only
to be left intact,
their first intention
held steady
without revision.

Not every request
is a call to reflect.
Sometimes it is simply
a place to stop.

.