What dark, forbidden thoughts

lie hidden, cringing in corners

left purposely unexplored, where only

the unbidden foes and uninvited guests

can plant their flags of remorse.

Pull back the shades but for a moment

and the nighttime pupils tear open

gasping again for shadows, but alive

once more to the potential of life-giving light.

What chaste and tender memories

are held at the bottoms of jam jars,

pie trays, rabbit cages and junk drawers.

Here, where time and dust allow

the mind to shade and dim what once

was bright, certain, immediate,

the mind can do its best work

of cinching a forever then

to a thirsty now.