The Absence of Wavelength

Touchstones in an Ordinary World

‘… There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive.”

Touchstones

Marshmallows from the back of the pantry,
once airily formed, hung over my head,
inedible now. Yet,
I can’t seem to throw them away.

The hand-me-down dish cracked a little more
after another wash, spin, and I again,
in dark store it away.
Touchstones, rare, claim my memory.

The child I lifted and spun around the room,
witnessed joyously in song, an image
burned into unforgettable.
Where is that innocent delight now?

I melt those marshmallows, in fudge made,
serve on that plate under trap of cellophane.
A remarkable moment arrives:
two gleaming-green eyes and a cheery smile.

Just one more dance, savoring confection,
I recall all old songs sung to her
and the dreaming charm
reawakens in my arms.

All moments captured, white cream consumed,
mother’s green heirloom hides away.
Mindfully comes pause
for one touchstone I value the most.

Sleep tight, words I would hush still
to that sleepy, bright face dreaming
every marshmallow cloud
spun on our plate, and this pact:

never forget tradition, and purpose
the undying glowing in our clouds
through ceramic bright;
and, hold all those old memories tight.


10.20.24
10.25.24 kinda big edits, added punctuation

Nothing can put me to sleep these days, missing over twenty nights of sleep this year. One more since. A secret I keep from her.
Not everything makes sense…