Things People Hold On To

By Shreya

Things people hold on to

chuckles me up

 An uncle I saw,

 Balding in ways very common.

 With the finite hair he had,

 He bent to pick up a comb

 Fallen from his pocket.

 He tucked it back in

 Like treasure.

A lady’s purse

 Older than her,

 But oh, so dear.

 It took her forever

 To fish out a thing,

 But maybe that’s the joy:

 Finding what was forgotten,

 All over again.

A child,

 Gripping a dead leaf

 Like it’s life itself.

 His shoes squeak when he waddles.

 A bracelet too,

 Chiming for attention.

 But nothing compares

 To that green leaf

 Gone brown,

 But his.

And me?

 I’ve got a keychain

 I’ll never change.

 It doesn’t make sense,

 But neither do most things

 We keep.

By Shreya