TANGLE

this tangle of stuff
this ragged monument to love and fear
and wonder
and want
and look at that thing,
bought and used
a hundred years ago
and they don't
make 'em like they used to
and how she loved that book
and man, you can't keep it all
but, jesus,
these scratches where the cat clawed
at suppertime, wanting,
and these photographs,
mattie and mama
and aunt lucy
and all this stuff,
 this jagged pile,
this map to nowhere
but here
these artifacts of life
and love
 and pain
and how i'd like to burn it all
some day