Safe Keeping

I wish I could be broken up,
Holy divided,
And shared among my friends;
Then I could be everywhere for everyone.
Keep me in your drawers among colored cloth,
Keep me in your pockets of favorite summers,
Keep me in a safe warm place;
Your favorite memory
Rubbed into the shard of me.
I can be a day,
A reminder,
A face,
A setting;
Just keep me near at hand.
Walk me along the fields at night,
Run with me the risk of being forgotten,
Toss me towards the stars but don't expect me to burn bright
Across this long night sky.
So lay down with me in the memories
Or just bury me beneath your favorite tree
And I will grow a monument for you as all we've ever been.
Elegant or crude, stumbling or smooth;
I'd be proud just to be the purpose of your planting hands.

Kindly Forget

The mistake that I made
              Would
Be reopening that box.

And letting myself remember
         That
Time makes us all strangers.

Everyone likes to say that they would
                                   Make
The same choices again; I don't think I could.

Letters and tickets, all in triplicate,
            It
Is a lot to come back upon.

Don't let restless regret get the
                                    Better
Of your better choices, better friends.

I will amass the memories with reverence,
             For
I will care for their meaning and their sleep.

I don't mind being the archivist alone; as for
                                         You?
Your work is over, your work continues.

Thank you.

tennis courts, july 2014