The Ether of Unkept Things

That place where the things

we should have let go of a very

long time ago – but didn’t – 

yeah, where those things go –

the ether of unkept things –

there is where I hope – or

hope never – to find, for these,

after all, are the things un-kept –

regrets – a whole sea of them – 

guilts and shames and memories

unbidden or bidden that stoop

the shoulders and bend the back

with the sheer weight of them

losses that were for the better

had I but known at the time

chances not taken, fears claimed

that should have been left behind

in unclaimed baggage long ago

there, in the ether of unkept things

do I imagine floating about – it is,

I think, the nature of unkept things

to float – angry letters written and

sent or not, their harm no more – 

friendships severed by time and

distance and change of circumstance –

tangible things – the baubles of 

existence – that necklace, this old

chair – all the things that seemed so

essential in their time – now floating

free form in the ether of the unkept

it’s not sad there – it is just –

unkept