The Collector

              The Collector

I am a collector

Of the past

Of various things that strike my fancy

Or touch me in a special way.

I have my cups

From when I was a boy.

Cups with Hopalong Cassidy

Written on the side.

There are books,

First editions, some signed

By authors I admire.

There are political buttons

And fossils and shells,

Old cameras, coins,

And who knows what all.

I add to the collection

All the time

At garage sales, flea markets

Auctions and antique sales.

Some of my collections I bought

Some are things I just hung on to.

But somehow through the years

I forgot to hang on to people

To family and friends.

To the ones I loved and held dear.

Somehow

I have let them all slip away.

It’s almost like I just suddenly

Looked up

And they were gone.

How it happened I haven’t a clue.

But they’re gone.

I have my books

And cups

And lots of bits and pieces

Of the past.

They bring joy.

They bring joy.

Don’t they?

MFM

Candlelight Inn

Room 5

Boynton Beach, FL

10:55 P.M

November 2, 2001