know that nothing ever ends
every moment in your life
is happening now
the songs your mother sang
haloed above your cradle
blend into the download shuffle
of your ipod
your first steps
your first kiss
your first and final prayer
fold into a scrapbook
and nothing is lost
hold out your hand
this is your heart
freshly broken
how it weeps how it shudders
how it sprouts thorns to guard against strangers
now reach again
into this fire
it is also your heart
alive and ablaze
with the thrill of itself
understand these two states
are never more than a breath apart
there are blank pages in this scrapbook
more than you would imagine a book could contain
they will hold rooms
faces
they will gather fingerprints
and tears
these pages may crease and rip
smear with blood and with sugar
but clutch this book tightly
every event stitched into one
and nothing will ever be forgotten
