one day you’ll say goodbye and not know it’s the last time
you’ll laugh until your stomach hurts
watch someone fall,
eat food that doesn’t taste like memory yet
you’ll kiss and be kissed
held like precious cargo
and you’ll think
I will do this tomorrow
and tomorrow too
but tomorrow does not keep its promises
you’ll take photos to hold these memories
and then delete them
because space is gone,
because you don’t want to pay for more,
because what is one more picture anyway
you’ll forget
(because forgetting is what we do) Because that is the nature of life
you’ll tell yourself they are still around,
you can see them tomorrow,
next week,
whenever
you’ll laugh again, you’ll promise yourself that
but promises fade the way drives fill
and time erases memories you thought wouldn’t fade
family becomes stranger
and you—
you don’t recognize yourself in old black glass screens,
you don’t see the free one,
the light one, the funny one
you will see the lines on your face
and wonder where your youth disappeared
and why it all suddenly feels too heavy
you fight to get back to that self
but life keeps its grip
and won’t let go
because life is cruel
because life is cruel
And that is the tragedy of life