Clutter If Honest Poem by Susan Lacovara

I kept it all
The clutter, if honest,
That remains testimony
To your last great stand
Before the epic battle of wills
Before the disappearance of forever
I kept it all
The clutter, if honest
Still on hand
Forever in heart
Staring at me
Frozen
Stalled
Unable to look away
Unsure if I truly WANT to forget
Uncertain if it matters, at all,
To YOU

A rusted razor (cutting ties and slicing words)
Shrunken sweater (worn, like an old embrace)
Unopened Christmas cards (so much left unsaid, unread)
Pretty perfume bottles (empty, but so lingers the scent)
Grocery List (labelling the layout of a lover's feast)
Art Supplies (what a picture you painted)
Seeds (saved, from our shared summer garden)
Your half used shampoo (taking up space on a dusty shelf)
All right where you left it,
Left me, Left us,
With little packed away... but our plan...

I kept it all
The clutter, if honest
And more, so much more...
The thickly infused love letters, sonnets
Spread out stories and sweet kisses goodnight...Mwahs
And a million reasons to answer your every request

More and so much more
Satin ribbons, black velvet hair ties, red sundress
Silk stockings, peach blush, an uncorked bottle of wine
Newspaper clipping and torn out magazine pages
Images of m0untains and merry streams
Gumballs and licorice, childlike temptations
Floating in the bottom of the drawer
That was 'THEN'

Lace and lusciousness, lipstick stained coffee cups
All of what seemed perfectly fine
Back then...back when
Building our bridge to one another
Was the only blueprint that mattered....