Remember

A poem

Remember

State park, 2018. Photo by Brian Funke.

There was that one
you did not
look back on
and that one 
you did
but then you shuddered

and the one
where you thought ahead
but then were disappointed
and that one
where you planned
and things worked out ok.

There was that one
you snuck away from
at fifteen past Orion
and the one 
that lodged in your mind
like a fishhook
and at some point
you had to push it through
and cut the barb
to free yourself.

And that one
that showed up
at just the right time
with mower in tow
and saved you from
the municipal ticket
and more bottled grief.

What about the one
where you were caught
and told me you died
but obviously you didn’t
and the other one
where you confessed
and she left
but your soul was healed
and at some point
she even noticed
you were new.

Do not
forget the one
where you wrote
the whole story
and filed it away for never
knowing the ending was
too perfect
to be plausible

and remember 
and write it down
what you
just told me.

Write that one down. 

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Thank you for reading! If you are so inclined, leave a comment about what strikes you, speaks to you, or stirs in your memory while you read. I look forward to the dialogue that will happen here, and within a week I will be following up with a Reflection post on how this poem emerged into being.

Brian

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