1.
A forgotten key
cannot mourn the loss of its lock
or openly lament its lack of purpose

any more than I can remember
the number on the old house
where I was murdered in a dream.

2.
A poem stashed in a file box
is unable to plead its case;

an abandoned guitar
will not serenade you from a closet.

3.
Silence itself is a forgotten thing,
being the opposite of a voice,
the ultimate default – not a victim,
but a gentleman awaiting his turn.

4.
I never tell you,
but I want to be held like a belief,
and wholly known with grace;

I never invite you,
but I wish you would move easily
through the venues of my exile.

5.
I do not recall my initial echo,
or if there was one.