ALLUSIONS OF A VANISHED NOW

ALLUSIONS OF A VANISHED NOW* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ stainless-steel womb welded shut, buried beneath the oak's gnarled roots, remnants given to the earth. allusions of a vanished now~ faded sepia photographs, a girl's clumsy drawing of herself, a compact disc, its molded plastic brittle, a mix of forgotten summer love songs. headlines tell of wars, violence, and bloodshed tidings of momentary joys~ the scent of potpourri, a best-selling book, a poem scribbled on frangible parchment, a smooth, grey river rock, pocketed on some long-ago walk treasured remembrances. When unearthed decades from now, will future inquirers understand the echoes, the desires, the fears, the loves, invisibly etched in these ordinary relics? Will they see us in the dust motes dancing in the beam of their curious light? Or will it all just be a mysterious puzzle, a murmur, quickly forgotten, returned to the earth's clutches? *Note: Poem published 6/27/2025 then deleted; (Poetrysoup.com/poem/allusions_of_a_vanished_now_1737437) This is my original pom