Photograph

I found a piece of him the other day Bound tightly within the parchment of time Tied with a string of purposeful forgetting Buried under years of mixed intentions I hadn't gone searching for him I don't have much use for the memory But all of a sudden there he was Standing on the forefront Of the battle weary plane I call my mind Smaller then I remembered Less frightening, far more sad In retrospect, with time He had lost his ghoulish ability To suck the breath from my throat I found I could stare at his image Meet him eye to eye And no longer feel that to stay afloat I had to be the first to look away I saw the cracks that were never evident When I was running for the door I saw the misery in his bones That he and I both mistook for rage I saw the discontent within the man Instead of the man within my discontent And I found myself on the verge of forgiving A man I called a monster I was ready to let go of the bitter vitriol I had carefully harbored all these years I felt I could finally set it down And simply walk away But where is the closure In a one sided apology How do you make peace With the wisp of smoke named memory