slippery memories

September 2009

A chuckle and he turns on the left blinker.
Tick tick tick. Tick tick tick.
He stares ahead
He drives down memories and tries to capture them all
With fragmented nets and ripped bags
Some slip through and some get caught
A slippery mess of half truths and full laughs.

Remember when you use to climb that fence?
You would forget your keys! It was so high!
He asks me

I laugh and vaguely see the image of a 7 year old
Scaling a 6 feet impossibility

You remember this song?
He asks
You use to sing this all the time! You got to know half the song!

He smiles
Snacking on the treasures his net caught tonight

I turn and stare ahead.
At familiar lights, familiar roads, and slippery memories
Coming back to me through elusive smells in random hallways
Remembering a childhood with certain lines and only under certain lighting
Songs sung with forgotten lyrics

He sighs. When did 10 years past already?
Years sneaked by without asking for permission to go
Sneaks back in later with wrinkles, slow lungs, failed kidneys,
Addiction, lost dreams, and fragmented nets with slippery memories.