Unpacking boxes

Memories in boxes in my mind,

Lost and forgotten over time,

I thought I left them all behind,

But here I am unpacking boxes.

One by one, they feel like a ghost town,

I found the one that was weighing me down

Like a makeshift tent on a verge of a breakdown,

Like a Stonewall crashing on the edge of a playground.

Piece by piece I turn back the pages

Of the past I locked up in cages,

Some soaked in tears,

Some burnt at the edges,

Some painted black of my younger years.

"Leave this box in the past!"

My mind screams, "you must!"

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,

But the dust and the ashes

Are burning and robbing my heart of trust.

I can't close this box like a door,

The lid I have doesn't fit anymore,

But I keep it close to my heart

Grounded in time like a nail in the floor

That won't break apart.

Unpacking this box was no easy task,

And cleaning the memories of cobweb and dust,

But what happens now? I wonder and ask,

What do I do with parts of the past

All sorted at last?

I have memories for sale,

I have stories to tell,

I have a lifetime supply

Of sorrows, ready to Fly,

I have no room in my life anymore

For boxes of scars to cry.