Epigram ‘n Aphorism Samwiches

the blue markings

the blue markings

with coffee clutched --

by the wall
by the door
a story told with gentle markings
each rising to meet another
         one in blue
         the other graphite

these gentle notations
on satin finish
         darling with age
         an area no cleaning agent could scrub
until the day
I give this house up

         the first day
when you stood most obedient
the angling stick rested atop your head
         she reached beneath
         scraped the wall in permanent blue
your backpack idle by the door

your brother before
three years ascending
by graphite
gentle dark markings did install
now intermingle,
reside amid the rising blue

such hope sent
my eye's gaze reflecting
on inscriptions of each year
         the first days of school
imagining your noggin
from foggy mornings of yore

every marking I spy
as high as it would go
to the top
until the finish
until the final date, now
I realize

         the potential of you
         was in memory
         not in the future
                   anymore.


10.19.20
41 lines, free verse

It's sad (blue) when they grow up and rehashing (markings) in the present, reflecting on past and future knowing charting their height was the only true measurement..