A Life/A Life Revisited

A Life

Paper waterfall
A mountain of scraps slides downward
Unreadable handwritten notes
Yellowed newsprint
Forgotten bills and receipts
Recipes torn from magazines
I was so inspired
Books buried among the documents
Now part of the strata
Pretty treasures once used as paper weights
Now fossils
Memorabilia
Notes from a half-remembered workshop
Unopened appeals for aid
A phone number but no name
Instructions in a foreign language for some unknown device
A not-forever stamp
Address labels for a former home
Program flyers from a time before Covid
Salvaged ribbons and gift wrap
A friend’s unanswered letter
Bank statements
Shopping lists
A quarter and four pennies
Business cards
A scribbled URL
A three-year old planner
Photos of a younger me
Last year’s missing 1099
Dead coupons
To do lists
I excavate my life
Hopes and dreams
Good intentions

 

** A Life Revisited **

Good intentions
Hopes and dreams
I excavate my life
To do lists
Dead coupons
Last year’s missing 1099
Photos of a younger me
A three-year old planner
A scribbled URL
Business cards
A quarter and four pennies
Shopping lists
Bank statements
A friend’s unanswered letter
Salvaged ribbons and gift wrap
Program flyers from a time before Covid
Address labels for a former home
A not-forever stamp
Instructions in a foreign language for some unknown device
A phone number but no name
Unopened appeals for aid
Notes from a half-remembered workshop
Memorabilia
Now fossils
Pretty treasures once used as paper weights
Now part of the strata
Books buried among the documents
I was so inspired
Recipes torn from magazines
Forgotten bills and receipts
Yellowed newsprint
Unreadable handwritten notes
A mountain of scraps slides downward
Paper waterfall

 

Talk story

  1. Lauren Childs says:

    Wow, top to bottom and bottom to top work very well here. Beginning with “Paper waterfall” and “Good intentions,” those lines seem to translate each other. I love how the lines that follow have a similar effect.

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