I have seen

a squirrel run up a tree

backwards.

I have seen

the pale blue smoke of dirtbikes hanging in the morning mist.

I have seen

mailmen without a smile.

I have seen

ants heft a crumb, heaving in unison.

I have seen

a dead friend in a casket.

I have seen

puppies born into the world.

 

I am a storybook.

 

I have seen

a child sleeping in the crook of its mother’s arm.

I have seen

the Grand Canyon at high noon.

I have seen

people argue in the shoe department.

I have seen

the bushy body of a buffalo.

I have seen

100,000 souls swaying in unison.

I have seen

tears on my mother’s cheeks.

 

I am a photo album.

 

I have seen

the fearful eyes of a hit’n’run animal

I have seen

a woman transformed by

the miraculous cure of confession.

I have seen

Springsteen in concert.

I have seen

a checkbook in the red

(more times than I care).

I have seen

my byline on a newspaper front page.

I have seen

the post-hurricane remains of a city.

 

I am a witness.

 

I have seen

spaghetti stains on a white shirt.

I have seen

theatre-in-the-round.

I have seen

the watery sun from the ocean floor.

I have seen

my reflection in a painting.

I have seen

cars collide at 55.

I have seen

the Earth from the heavens.

 

I am today.

 

But one day I will be gone.

Who then will inherit my treasure?

 

-kp