" A Box Full of Memories"

   
 
      A Box Full of Memories


  One day, I started my collection,
  in a small box, with just a few.
  Each new day brought new selections,
  of the first days spent with you.
  And as days turned to months, then years,
  many more pictures came into focus.
  All the happiness, joys and fears,
  came and went like locusts.
  Those flowers and birds, first steps too,
  and ones of sleeping babies in bed.
  The diaper bags, on long, long trips,
  now all dance in my head.
  First day of school, or at the beach,
  or peddling your bikes around me.
  All those pets, that came with those rules,
  for their presence to remain free.
  Growing up, your independence,
  with that make-up and new dresses.
  All the pictures in my box, present
  at your worst and your best.
  Though I never thought that one day,
  my box would stop filling.
  And the pictures had no more to say,
  to leave me with a heart chilling.
  With no camera film, no smiling faces,
  nothing in which to focus.
  All the happiness, joy and tears,
  came and went like locusts.
  Now with this box, I sat here trying,
  while hoping and wishing somehow.
  The memories would hold back crying,
  and of being alone here now.

  S A Gibbins    1993