Today I opened
Pandora's Box
Lifted the lid on my
'Memory Chest'
and was washed away by
a tidal wave,
borne back over years
to the very beginning.
It was all there, my
life,
stretched like elastic,
pulling me back.
Old photos: sullen
child on a beach;
Happy child with a
dog;
Shy, on my first day
at 'big school';
Provocative sixth
former, posing with friends.
Letters and writings:
the school magazine;
Snippets of poetry,
both mine and my brother's;
'Billets doux' and
notes from men I had loved;
A cork inscribed 'Grand
Union, 1990'
Engulfed, I floundered
through flotsam and jetsam
Looking for something
that I could grasp hold of,
Something to anchor me,
bring me back to the present.
My children, my
constants:
Every card ever made,
ever sent down the years;
School Reports and
Awards;
Cub caps and school
shirts;
Photos from First
School to later teen years.
Projects and scrapbooks
and all sorts of things.
Damaged by damp, they
are sad relics of life
But, the memories are
forever bright in my head.
I take out things for
the children
Close the lid
Light the match.
Ephemera.
