the task
an outline
of one’s life

the thought
a drawing
of one’s past

why
would he
want to remember
the dark
and dingy
cobwebbed corners
filled with skeletons of flies

why
would he
want to remember
a drunken father
and a mother
with no lullabies

why
an outline
of miserable memories
when he fought
so long
so hard
to kick that place goodbye

why
who’s idea
that this would be therapy
to dig into the dirt
and find
the broken bones
and in some miraculous way
healing would occur

somethings should never be
reopened
when there are no means
to fix the wreckage

do not ask
for an outline

for he drew the line
between then and now
he walked down the path
and left it behind