Open To Interpretation

Lost and Found

lost and found

- a striped red tee that you wore to all the important things. to all the things you thought were important. i guess that's why i never saw you wear it.

- a book full of horrible, angry poetry. i tried to read it, for you, but i can never get all the way through. i hope you didn't think of me when you read it.

- the dusty pink rabbit that you could never sleep without. i watched you outgrow it. you'd toss around in your sleep, and i wish your pride would have let you keep it with you.

- twisted, tangled, torn white earbuds. if i hold them close enough to me, i can still hear your songs. i'm sorry for ever telling you to press pause.

- the "i" key of your ratty old laptop. i want to throw it away. when i look at it, all i can see is the "hate you" that always followed.

- the severely outdated game console that seemed to slither its way back into your hands every few months. you restarted your save files every time, but i never got the hint. all you wanted was to start over.

- the black, woven belt that you used to hold up your too-loose pants. you'd had those jeans for years. you lost so much weight, they didn't look like they belonged to you anymore.

- half a pair of socks. i like to think that you still have the other partner. or maybe it followed the memories of you and lost itself forever.

- a scrap piece of paper full of scribbles that i can't decipher. your handwriting was always like a typhoon, and so were you. destructive, out of control, and you could never tell when it would end.

- a white crayon, which doesn't make sense to me. but maybe it makes sense to you, because you can relate. it was never lost and found; it was lost and forgotten.

- fourteen quarters for the vending machine just around the corner. you used to race your friends there and back. i don't think your friends know you're gone.

- empty space. if only i could say that i still had everything that you lost along the way. i wish i could say i found them. i wish i could say that yes, i have your smile, despite the fact that you hadn't seen it in years. i wish i could say i had the playful glint in your eyes, the random bursts of giggles, the creak of the floorboards as you tip-toed down the stairs. i wish i could say that i still had you.