Nothing is Forever

I have no storage space

for all these memories

things that need 

discarded

thrown away

I wish I remembered why

I believed they

were important

before, this vase

these cards

letters you wrote

so long ago

the meaning

lost in the fog

of time

These knickknacks

have stories I would

have to invent

since the reasons

I have kept them

are lost in the dust

that surrounds

them, along with 

the files whose

names I no longer

recall

I am sure I thought

I would never forget

when I tucked

them inside a book,

pressed against

my heart, sure I swore

allegiance, that

I would keep each one

always

but I am poised

over the basket

that will take

pieces of my life

to a landfill

that will clear

another corner

and remind me:

nothing is forever

© Valerie Bridgeman

February 24, 2013