realize what you’ve lost retrace your steps

look in doorways loading bays dirty back alleys

you won’t find missing pieces

the heart that shatters at every kindness

the mind that breaks on each piece of art

the sense of self that becomes so fluid

you leave it oozing over a rail somewhere

these are commonplace gimcracks

you can get used at any cheap store

in the pages of a thriftstore paperback

on the screen from an endless telenovela

you seek what will map you back in place and time

a smile that shines for every stranger

that brilliant cut stone set just so above the window

the crow that sits so still it becomes part of the sign

gather these and with a laugh

mix them into yourself then let them go

walk away whole again but go on to lose more

repeat and repeat