
The old address book seems to be full.
We did once use address books
Written on paper, adding and crossing out
Our daily contacts.
A Royal Horticultural Address Book
With a rock rose on the cover.
Year after year, names added, names removed.
Fingermarks on the cover
Cleaned with a soft eraser more than once
But no date for when it started.
Leafing through the pages is
Leafing through my past.
People I know
People I knew
People no longer here
A few new additions
A few changes in phone numbers
Or addresses.
I suppose I should transfer the living
To a new address book
Or at this point to a computer file.
Include email addresses
And phone numbers.
But it’s not just the names
That this book holds
It’s all the things that happened
The places, the crisscrossing of lives,
So even if I transfer some,
The rest must stay. The book must stay,
For it is part of my story.
You are inspiring me to unpack my Italy boxes! Thanks… I think. baci! James II
LikeLike