Memory

A Poem by Tim Holloway

Memory – by Tim Holloway

Our memory is like a burning scrap of paper,

we use it to light up the past.

*

Once upon a time there were people

that weren’t very good at thinking.

To them, everything old was sacred.

Priests made sure that no son did anything

that his father had not done before him.

**

They lived in cities and towns,

buried from time to time by the desert sands.

The land turned year by year like a potter’s wheel.

They would eventually become the greatest inventors of all time.

***

Have you ever stood between two mirrors?

Even when you can’t see the mirrors in their reflections anymore,

they are still there, and you know it.

Like the past, they continue on, becoming the future.

**

And behind every ‘Once upon a time…’ there is another.

For some reason the ego needs a past to spring from,

or it would suffer and crumble into dust.

*

Our memory is like a burning scrap of paper,

we use it to light up the past.

Contributor's Note: This is my sixth foray into online education at Cerro Coso - the first being a pair of computer classes - followed by Philosophy, Ethics, Music, Film Studies, Anthropology, Archeology, Theater, E-Commerce, and Creative Writing courses. It has been an experience that I highly recommend. I’m slowly whittling away at completing the required courses towards acquiring an AA degree - of one form or another - and having these classes available online is priceless.