There are moments in these days when I wonder at the keeping. The saving of the remnants. The scraps hang on and hang around. Guilt lays a heavy blanket over me and space becomes scarcer.
And then there are the revelations. The ones with the sound and smell of epiphany. The ones that say. One day you will know, the saving and waiting were for the healing. And for an awakening.
I did a little unpacking.
And the memories found me there. The gaps of mystery will heal in their discovery.
Once Upon A Discovery
Towards the bottom of the bottom
Near the must
(Mold smells like a memory keeper)
Beside the stubs and remnants of a life
The jade green French wired ribbon wraps your earliest days of me
For me
I knew it was your hand that wrote the to and from
Your lips, full and red, that licked the seal
Someone loved hard and long and with a lasting love
Buried in the back of a dresser drawer
(I write the stories I do not know)
But you in your youth left me clues of love and loss
Of pain and joy
It is my turn to follow bread crumbs of a life
To stumble on forgiveness and backtrack without you
If I tell you what you wrote in ’58 and ’59
The heart is now ready
But you’ve lost your mind, a bit
Dementia is a thief
Protecting us in ways which stretch us
Beyond our understanding
We both loved Latin
We now speak Greek, your brow tells me how little you now know
I dream about the lines you wrote
Save them for a crack in time
Wonder what you said of love
And me
The compass points to lime-green veined hands
Three generations mark the trail
We keeper of the treasures
We keeper of the secrets
Tread down a sacred path
Did you mean for me to find, the things that you have left?
Once upon a discovery
I met new parts of you
Gently I will travel
Savoring the stories you chose to never tell
May asks me if am I ready
The Spring will heal us all
elizabeth w. marshall 