<\/p>\n
The Gift of Time<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s this\u2026oddly familiar cash box,<\/p>\n
the sort you use for a yard sale or craft show,<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve just dug out of the ground where the roses are strangled.<\/p>\n
To say the previous homeowner had a green thumb would be a lie,<\/p>\n
so it would also be a lie for me to say<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not confused by this cash box,<\/p>\n
Which has my initials on it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019m tempted to stand here<\/p>\n
at the kitchen counter with my brow knit with confusion,<\/p>\n
drinking a glass of clover and mint tea<\/p>\n
while the tiniest fingertips of fear creep up my spine,<\/p>\n
but curiosity is killing me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Strange, the key to the cash box in the garage is the same\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
How in the world\u2026<\/p>\n
Did my Aunt Marguerite\u2019s bible end up in here?<\/p>\n
I lost that sixteen years ago.<\/p>\n
And who took these pictures of me<\/p>\n
at age fourteen sitting in the caf\u00e9 on the mall in Cape May?<\/p>\n
Or this picture of me<\/p>\n
reading a book on a Lake Michigan beach when I was twenty?<\/p>\n
Where did they get this ring I lost when my ex-husband left that one time?<\/p>\n
Or this gold and sapphire bracelet I found at St Alban\u2019s and lost again in Elephant and Castle?<\/p>\n
This\u2026is a monogrammed handkerchief my Nan gave me<\/p>\n
when I was eight\u2026I cried a lot back then.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s most confusing is this envelope full of pictures\u2026of this young man who never seems to age.<\/p>\n
He takes a frightful amount of selfies\u2026<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got lovely handwriting, though.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wait, that\u2019s me again.<\/p>\n
This was taken yesterday at the eye doctor.<\/p>\n
How in the world\u2026?<\/p>\n
I hope this notecard gives me some sort of identification the police can use to find this stalker.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dear Gusha,<\/p>\n
You were ninety four years old when I was born.<\/p>\n
It was a pretty big deal because you couldn\u2019t see what I looked like;<\/p>\n
mom always said that made you incredibly sad.<\/p>\n
And I remember describing things to you,<\/p>\n
and you telling me about the world before you lost your eyesight.<\/p>\n
You always told me anything was possible;<\/p>\n
that I could rule and reign over time and space if I set my mind to it.<\/p>\n
So, I have, as you’ve guessed by now.<\/p>\n
And I\u2019ve collected these things for you, precious things you lost.<\/p>\n
I know how much you hate selfies, but I took some with you<\/p>\n
so you could see who I am<\/p>\n
and how I set my mind to<\/p>\n
rule and reign over time and space.<\/p>\n
You will be happy in this house\u2026and use this box to leave a time capsule with my dad.<\/p>\n
Thanks for everything, Gusha,<\/p>\n
Asher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Gift of Time Here\u2019s this\u2026oddly familiar cash box, the sort you use for a yard sale or craft show, I\u2019ve just dug out of the ground where the roses are strangled. To say the previous homeowner had a green thumb would be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1379,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem","category-marathon-poem","category-poetry-prompt-responses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92661","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\/1379"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92733,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92661\/revisions\/92733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}