Heart Shaped Box

By Christianez Dennis

A walk in the path of adrift reminiscence,

As hesitation hangs like a veil of mist

A smile to calm my wandering heart

As it drums away in its maddening rhythm.

A caress to wipe aside the dust of aeons

As deft fingers unlock my heart-shaped box…

A hand to hold and steady me

As memories wash over as a tide undone

A whisper, to pull out the candy wrapper butterflies

As clinquant as the day they were set aflutter.

A tear to go with the solitary postcards

As signed by you or me, but never both.

A laugh, for the shells and the tinsel trinkets

As relics from our boisterous jaunts

A solemn nod, for all the restaurant bills

As they imprint the milestones of our momentous past.

A sob for all the snapshots from photo booths

As they brandish our rise from then until now.

And a grin for the locks of our hair braided together

A look at our silver strands that look nothing like the keepsake now.

And a drink for the good times that were and might come again

As we finally put away that heart-shaped box…

By Christianez Dennis