Picked To Remember Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

No one can erase memories.
Whether they are selective,
To forget others.
Or picked to remember,
Every detail to embellish...
The ones continued to revisit,
A happiness with them that sits.
Or a bitterness to hold onto,
Just to bring it up,
For the convenience of admitting it.

No one can erase,
From a mind to replace...
That which to them has happened.
And if whatever that is remembered,
Is negative...
That is the one that will stay.
To return everyday to select.

'Uh...remember that day,
We were at the beach.
And you hit me in the head with a shell? '

~Yeah. Wow.
I remember it.
You were celebrating your 5th birthday.
I hadn't forgotten.~

'And here is that shell.
I've been waiting for years,
To hear you apologize.'

~For what? ~

'Ruining the most precious years,
Of my childhood.
Leaving me mentally scarred.
For the rest of my life.'


~But...
We got married.
Do you realize how old we are? ~

'I know.
And everyday I am reminded,
Of how you have taken me for granted.'

~Oh, GOD.
I can't believe this.~

'You?
I can't believe how long,
It has taken you to be considerate,
Of my feelings to at least apologize.'

~Baby. Honey. It's okay.
I'm not comfortable with this aging thing either.~

'We were so happy and innocent, then.
And on MY birthday.
You hit me in the head with this shell.'

~It's smaller than a pebble, honey.~

'Sure.
The older you get,
Everybody thinks you look great.
ME?
Nobody tells me that.'

~I just told you that yesterday.~

'You did?
But did you mean it? '