Unneeded Baggage Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Forced without a choice to choose,
To rid and remove,
All that has been collected to carry...
On one's back.
As if it brought comfort.
Being attached to a past.
Held onto to keep,
Every nonsense to have had...
Kept to be reminded of it.
Like unneeded baggage.
Afraid to detach from it to let go.

Then that day comes to happen.
A wish to want,
That weight to be lifted off one's shoulders.
Unexpected without warning or a clue,
That a path one has traveled on for years...
Has been cleared of obstacles and negativity.
Yet...
This to welcome and accept with relief.
For whatever the reason,
Saddens the one...
Accustomed to a weight to have carried.
Knowing undeserving to have done it.
But...
For whatever that reason is,
Will miss the baggage.
Belonging to others and not oneself.

"Excuse me.
I know it is none of my business to ask.
But why are you crying like that? "

-It has just dawned on me,
Baggage I carried was not mine to bear.
And...
This has left me happy and sad,
At the same time.-

"And...
You are crying over that? "

-Yes! -

"I don't want to be rude.
But 'WHERE' on this Earth,
Did you come from? "

-My father use to ask me,
That very same question.
Many years ago.
When I was just a kid.
And I told him if he didn't know,
My mother knew.
To tell me,
He should have known.
Because he had been there all the time.-

"Oh. Now I understand.
Denial can be a confusing way to live.
Until the truth to face,
Has a way to eliminate...
That burden to carry.
Well...
Congratulations."

-Thank you.-