Moving memories

Memories,
carefully dusted off and swathed,
packed in the boxes
along with the more trivial possessions.
Like the apocryphal cat
they can’t be left behind.
Some you will unpack,
immediately upon arrival,
as handy conversation pieces
when old friends call.
Some will remain encased, with only
an occasional furtive private inspection
to check for silverfish and mildew.
And some will be ‘forgotten’,
but will only feign death
and, like ancient terracotta soldiers,
will wait in infinite patience
ready to ambush the present.

Doug Jacquier, a committed gardener and cook, lives with wife Sue on the southern coastal Fleurieu Peninsula. His work has appeared in several anthologies, including as one of the featured poets in Friendly Street’s New Poets 21 published last year. His collection of short fiction and poems, Raving and Wryting: Bite-sized low wit for our desperate times, was also published last year and is available on Amazon Books as both paperback and for Kindle. Doug blogs at Six Crooked Highways, Take My Words For It.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.