with thanks to Susan Ahlbrand for the invitation to write a “this but not that” poem based on an abstract noun over at Ethical ELA’s Open Write today
Memory is a blanket
of new-falling snow
over barren ground
where nothing would grow
Memory is not static
it is ever-changing
reinventing itself day by day
ever so slightly
around the edges
Memory is sparks
crackling and popping
from the inner fire
in the grate
Memory is not reliable—
it goes its own way,
its own consummation
and consumption,
ashes stirred to life
rolling in the breeze
Memory is a river
life-giving, sustaining, sacred
flowing free until obstructed
necessary and nourishing
yet potential danger for drowning
—you cannot live there, submerged
Memory is not tomorrow
or yesterday
Memory is now
Memory is not a book,
a record carefully preserved
Memory is written in disappearing ink
lit bits and pieces 