i don’t remember
a lot

my brain is a sieve where
each experience passes
lovingly
but without mercy

and sometimes big chunks do get stuck
and they are the memories i get stuck on
and replay over
and over
and over
without mercy
to my own psyche

but others show up when reminded
[thank goodness for that little brain trick]
by an object or a person
telling the same story from their perspective
and in those moments
it’s like a magic trick — the memory bursts forth
like a trick bouquet of flowers
from a magician’s shirtsleeves

and i am thrown backwards
winded from my own remembering
and hopeful this time
this time
[maybe]
that memory will be
saved
from the sieve