Here I am: fifteen years on,
My memories are right where I left them,
Hiding in the dark, waiting for
My unsuspecting feet to trip over them.

There are more now, of course.
Some blunt over time, so my
Ever helpful brain sharpens and stores
New ones, making sure that the road
Becomes ever more treacherous.

There is another treachery at work here:
My heart, my mind, and their
Mutual betrayal; crime and punishment
One and the same.

All the possible pasts leading through
All the versions of the present me to
All the iterations of the future,
Exploding into ever finer fractals
As my mind begins to overflow with
Different results from the same experiment.

As always, there are so many options
That I fail to choose, fail to act,
Fail to move from the safe discomfort
Of the corner I still occupy.

So, fifteen years on, here I am.
If you want to find me, if you want
To sharpen some old memories for me,
You won’t need to look very hard.

08/03/2017

Posted on 09/08/2017
Copyright © 2025 Richard Vince