deleting photos
emptying boxes
discarding files
not obliviating the past
just eliminating
what’s not important
to keep
the past
one more link
there they are
in address books
on cell phones
scraps of paper
stuck between pages
of books
read long ago
names sometimes
attached
though often
on those scraps of paper
missing
or incomplete
and one is left
trying to remember
faces
personalities
quirks in speech
hesitating
as one often does
deleting
those old phone numbers
putting off
‘til another day
erasing one more link
to a life
seeking solid ground
one walks gingerly
through the swamps
of the past
seeking solid ground
on which to build
a future
in my dream: my mother
there you were
in my dream
as young as you were
when I was a kid
and you said
you were letting the past
go
but I could not
release it
I reminded you
of that Chinese restaurant
you always took me to
on our yearly pilgrimage
to Macys
during holiday season
then you smiled
as you faded from view
and my eyes
turned to liquid
and my heart
melted away
that ghost
always there
that ghost
in front of me
old notebooks
reading old notebooks
rediscovering
who I was
on the way
to becoming
who I am
the picture
frozen
in time
to burn
forever
in memory
