copy and paste

head down, cheek squished on arm

read the words on the screen

write them down on the paper again

graphite lead falls to paper

scratching out words

they start to blur

blend

together

when you sit for forty-seven minutes

and read

and write

copy

and paste

pencil slickened by tiny sweat beads

gathering on blistering fingers

marks left from

reading

and writing

and copying

and pasting

but not a “command C” paste

a write and write and write until the screen

and the paper are

identical

so then you have notes

some on the glowing pixels

and some scratched out on paper

written with your time

that you cannot reclaim

so treasure your “notes”

for they contain part of your life