November 13, 2018

what wasn't erased when the hard drive failed

1. An image of my mother, gardening mid-summer, one hand on her thigh, and the other,
holding a sheaf of basil stems. 2. A small pitcher of wildflowers on a kitchen counter,
the window behind it streaked with rain. 3. The smell the fields gave off 
when we drove the boys through the gentle turns of Brittany. 4. Any glass of rosé
my father served at lunch, the patio stones warming by degrees. 5. Two suitcases
on a Peter Pan bus to Port Authority, and the long hot walk toward Vreeland Avenue. 
6. Jen and Amy and I smoking halfway down the path to the swamp, the terror
and triumph of our small teenage rebellion. 7. The mottled scar at my knee from a failed
attempt at leaping the handlebars. 8. Karate Kid re-enactments on a high school stage.
9. The sound of a hungry dog. 10. Whatever is happening now, and now, and now.