I Remember...

I Remember

The day she told me how her dad 

had tried to sell her

How tiny was his house, 

and how sad the story of his mom being tricked away

The day I found out 

he was suicidal, 

and homicidal

His story--the teacher beating him on the head in grade 4

Telling him off for his dad's odd and irritating behaviour

I Remember

The walk to that village

So many times

Each time not quite sure of the way

But sniffing it out

More than the walk

The people in that home

A rare place that treated me as 'normal'

Let me sit up there in the loft above the pigs

Chopping the feed

While we chatted

The walk away from the village

With another woman

Her analogy 

Rain "like diarrhea" that day :o) 

Making vegetable tofu

EATING that tofu

(Even if I stayed, 

those memories are long in the past, 

an era gone by)

I Remember

A me that was young and idealistic

Brimming with enthusiasm

And energy

I Remember

The man left by the river

I had to try to help 

Because earlier

Someone else

I hadn't

And he died

I Remember

Jack's older brother

How wrong it was

That he died that day

On the bus, halfway home

Hearing there had been an explosion

And some of my students lost their fathers

I Remember 

Things shared in grief groups

The stories of pain

The times it was the first time

They had had a chance to grieve

The day I was concerned about all the pain

But then asked

And remembered

No, this is good

Very good

I Remember

This thought trail will continue

And I will keep remembering

Until I remember no more. 

I wonder what new memories 

will be created 

in decades to come