Memory

[Philatone]

V. 3 many changes

Needing more space, I pressed three buttons
to dig deep inside a capped lens
and empty out a memory card.

In the seconds spent watching a blue screen,
a flash of a frozen hourglass, who would think
those would be our last moments together--

the dining room, which we erased
into a blank to start again, and us
who stripped the paneling with hammers.

Now, the slides are off the camera,
and the memory of a table and chandelier is taken
by the extra counter and the floating island,

stationed where some photographs used to hang
and a marsh of dishes could not be seen
in the evening, or sometimes in the morning.

Walking downstairs, it can be strange
how the first wall we ever took down
reminds us to wash the plates

without a frame to remind us of the wood
we trashed, wiped, cleared
deleted, removed, forgot.



V.2 changes made on Dale's suggestions



It is easy to remove photographs
from a memory card;

three buttons to press in order
to unlock a blue screen,
a flash of an hourglass. By then,

the album empties itself. We only erase
the dining room, before paneling
was stripped by a hammer

held by a slender pair of hands.
Gone are the slides of the transition
from table and chandelier

to counter and floating island,
or even the glisten of those eyes
once dust thinned and the mask fell

in a picture. The first wall we ever took down
has no frame to remind us
of the color of the wood

we trashed, wiped, cleared,
deleted, erased, forgot.








v. 1

It is easy to remove photographs
from a card assigned to a camera;

three buttons to press in order
to unlock a blue screen,
a flash of an hourglass. By then,

the album empties itself. We only lose
the dining room, before paneling was stripped
by hammer and chisel in a pair

of slender hands. Gone is the record
of the conversion from table and chandelier
to kitchen counter, or even

the glisten of those eyes
once dust thinned,
and the mask fell for a picture.

The first wall we ever took down,
yet not even the color of the wood
comes to mind anymore;

trashed, deleted, wiped,
cleared, erased, forgotten.