Forgetting and Remembering

Image: Lilies (Corey Memorial Window)

I wonder how much of my life I’ve already forgotten.
It’s both choice and chance: what we keep and what we lose.

I search my mind like a curator surveying their collection,
contemplating storage, insurance, and the inevitable.

I spend my day remembering
the schedule, the lists, the most pressing tasks.

God, let me forget conference room agendas,
and, in your mercy, let me keep my daughter’s smile.

Let me spend my life remembering
the ones who loved me into being.

I will beg, plead, and borrow what I must,
holding onto my mother’s laughter until it turns to dust.

I don’t need to be remembered,
but please don’t let me forget.