Throw me away

Throw me away

Dump me on the floor

Tear me into pieces

Empty out the cabinet

A depository

Full of yellowed paper

Faded balance sheets

Ragged receipts and agreements

Dusted with apologies

Red letter days

When times were hard

But so much easier

Then than now

When every last page

Cast into the fire

Is torn between

An emotion and a rescue

When a final demand

Was a test of survival

A bunch of letters

Unopened

From before we were together

The children’s dad is my guess

They have to stay

They may want to see them

Put safely away

With the births and deaths

Divorce petitions

And medical records

So much of life reduced

To one closed file

In a cabinet

Stored in a wardrobe

Out of sight

Not of mind

Cards and photographs

Will have to wait

Another day