Scenes from the Journey: Walking Archive

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Commit it all to paper,

those of you who are walking archives,

because it's time to admit

that your storage capacity

has been exceeded.

But worse still are the vermin:

just as moisture and silverfish

and bookworms

attack the written record,

so the aging equivalents

(we'll call them "mice" to simplify)

remove what's stored in the head,

eliminate the memories,

whether new or old.

If you are a walking archive,

get it all out of the swamp of your mind

and commit it to acid-free paper.

Keep it in a climate-controlled cupboard.

Act as if it is important to retain

this body of memories

and maybe (but don't count on it)

someone, someday, will actually notice.

Alternatively, ignore me.

Let it all evaporate

from your mind.

Walk for your pleasure, not as an archive.

The past has passed.

Let it go.

Scenes from the Journey