When did they bury you?<\/p>\n
Why did they leave you?<\/p>\n
Did they hope to enjoy these remembrances<\/p>\n
In their old age?<\/p>\n
Or did they leave them behind \u2013<\/p>\n
Disappointed, dispirited by what was past?<\/p>\n
Or did they want them to overflow into<\/p>\n
Other lives?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A well-bound, well-read book,<\/p>\n
Out of print,<\/p>\n
Of no current value —<\/p>\n
Except in someone\u2019s memory?<\/p>\n
Simple pictures, simple words, simple childhood<\/p>\n
Of bright days — never night —<\/p>\n
Outdoors on clean suburban streets<\/p>\n
With pets and siblings<\/p>\n
Running and laughing and staying clean:<\/p>\n
A story few children live anymore.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A metal decoder ring,<\/p>\n
Splattered with patina:<\/p>\n
What secret message does it hold?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s one mystery left to solve:<\/p>\n
Once found for free<\/p>\n
In boxes of cereal or kool-aid<\/p>\n
Or cracker jacks.<\/p>\n
Now worth hundreds on ebay.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A pressed carnation,<\/p>\n
Plucked from a corsage to remember \u2013<\/p>\n
A wedding? A prom? A graduation?<\/p>\n
Time frozen and fragile to the touch.<\/p>\n
Are the memories as faded as the flower<\/p>\n
Or is there still a fragrant joyousness<\/p>\n
To be found?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tobacco leaves wrapped like a gift<\/p>\n
Inside a linen handkerchief.<\/p>\n
Tied with a bow:<\/p>\n
Too large for cigarettes,<\/p>\n
Were they taken from a cigar<\/p>\n
Or bought for a pipe?<\/p>\n
The linen could not save the aroma<\/p>\n
Maybe the ring can decipher<\/p>\n
It\u2019s secret?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More memories flow out<\/p>\n
From this box of memories.<\/p>\n
More mysteries with each one.<\/p>\n
Did they want to leave you behind?<\/p>\n
On purpose or by chance?<\/p>\n
Did delight become regret?<\/p>\n
Did they leave it here for me to find?<\/p>\n
Did they know someone<\/p>\n
Would need to find evidence<\/p>\n
of family<\/p>\n
of blissful love<\/p>\n
of simple lives<\/p>\n
overflowing?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When did they bury you? Why did they leave you? Did they hope to enjoy these remembrances In their old age? Or did they leave them behind \u2013 Disappointed, dispirited by what was past? Or did they want them to overflow into Other lives? …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":853,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4101],"class_list":["post-91825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","tag-2021poetrymarathon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/853"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91825"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91923,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91825\/revisions\/91923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}