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The Unpacking

Caught at a bus stop, she watches
as crowds walk by, families on vacation,
parents with expressions of weariness,
children carrying trinkets bought
to cajole, mom tired of the asking.

Others carry memories as objects,
souvenirs to be placed on a shelf
and dropped in the unpacking, items
left behind as children move on, out,
bedroom reliquaries for parents.

The objects her own gathered,
now wrapped in newspaper, stored in crates,
sit in her basement, their homes filling up
with their own vacation memories.

Poetry by Melinda K Zarate