Mementos
I keep a collection of mementos
Not tangible objects, but memes:
A clever phrase I picked up,
A helpful trick observed,
A curious habit acquired,
An interest in some new field.
Each one has become part of me
Yet always reminds me of the person
from whom I learned it.
I have several mementos from you:
There are performers and pieces I enjoy
Because of the instrument you play.
You introduced me to my favorite beer.
I view art exhibits I never would have known about
If you had not taught me.
I steal your lines and use your jokes.
You have influenced me in so many ways
Both profound and trivial,
Though you do not know it,
Though you couldn't care less.
Thank God I am no longer in love!
But you were my first love--
That is history now and cannot change--
Another bittersweet memory for the collection.
As the years go by
And memory discards the sorrows
I grow somewhat nostalgic;
I treasure these mementos.
tabla rasa
I'd hoped I'd be spared this
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