Make altars with what's left

when memorabilia takes another form

Make altars with what’s left.

Take the small shells forgotten in sandy pockets.

Place the dried petals of bouquets whose intentions

crumbled long before they did.

Use half lit candles and scorched sage

that sprinkled floating embers in dark corners.

Cluster perfectly rounded and rarely used rosary beads.

Drop coins collected back when travel meant more in exchange.

Tuck in crumbled wish lists yellowed at the edges.

Sing soul songs that break the heart apart.

Whisper old prayers that long for freedom.

Prop old photos that have lost their place.

Offer gold rings that no longer belong anywhere.

Go, gather.

Gather it all in one place

and take a large breath in.

Light a match.

Hold your chest.

Then, exhale.

Let it go and be

a witness as fire and grief

amass in swirly smoke,

drifting,

disintegrating,

disappearing

it all

into a gorgeous

amount of nothing.