Memories are Sticky

Memories are Sticky

Memories are sticky and
left alone they attract ants like
candy on the sidewalk.
Some we hang on to while we
brush the ants away.
Others we wish to be released from,
setting us free from the sweets of
another time
that have long ago been discontinued.

Yet, sitting in one place,
never venturing between the forests and
the sea,
we download another app,
fish for something to keep our minds
from alighting on friends now gone,
backs now turned,
the doorbell that never rings,
the endless sameness of things.
To my shame I admit,
I sit stuck in one place too long.

I could knock on your door, I know.
I could phone you, though
disembodied voices unnerve me.
Would you unbreak my heart if I
helped unbreak yours?

Dreams are thin as spider silk,
left alone they disappear like water
in the sun.
Some we write down over again,
some we forget and weep formless.
Everybody knows but no one asks
which dreams might be redeemed,
and which cling like cobwebs and dust.

We were pretty once. We were undeterred.
We were starlight and moonbeams,
we were more than we seemed and less
than our egos allowed. We dipped our
toes
in every stream.

We were unafraid to dream.