Life, In Focus

what have you done with all my memories

the ones I had packed organized neatly in the box in the

back of the hall closet

you must know the old box from the forties once my mother's

with taped corners faded roses faded recollections

hidden far in the back under the heavy guard of the panini maker

waffle maker my favorite slow cook chili cooker

I thought they would always be safe

heavily protected from harm or loss

irreplaceable to me they may have been stolen maybe sold at our

last garage sale to some unscrupulous someone rifling through

the stacks of photos decade by decade seeing my younger

brother in a seventies crazy plaid shirt and crazier plaid pants

being sent to elementary school against his will knowing

what was in store for him

after all these years it still brings tears to his eyes

what was mom thinking

wringing my hands holding my aching head

cursing struggling to recreate the years since I last saw it

hopelessly I realize I may never see it again

that everything I once was is gone that is

until a moment of enlightenment

when I suddenly remember I

had moved my memories from the closet

to the basement to make room

for a bread maker

that's never

baked.

JPPestana

Life In Focus

3.6.2022