“Memory believes before knowing remembers”
William Faulkner
Let me tell you a story,
my story; but a story
one could tell in lieu
of any other story.
I remember fear
shuffling down the hall
like a snuffling bear
dying into the night.
I knew as I know,
bears don’t rage
in suburban homes
smashing televisions;
And yet, believing in stories,
I listened and became
a part of what was
in order to believe.
But anger burns reason,
and memory, unreasonably,
rewrites itself continually
into happy redemptions.
So the bear sleeps uneasily
in a bed just so, somewhat
safe in our state
of emotional wreckage.
Now, leave with this story
trailed by a moral ambiguity
tinged with what you believe
to remember of this day.
(August 2012)