Remember When

Once my hands have wrinkled

And once my knees have begun their everlong ache

I’ll close my eyes and flip the pages of 

My life, and remember my parents, and listen

To the music my roommate used to show me,

And I will remember my sister sharing my room

Well into our twenties, over breaks from college.

I will remember my little brother’s weird hobbies

And his annoying little friends my mom had me drive around.

I'll remember my hometown and the three schools in which

I made my first friends and discovered who I was.

Once my hearing has gone and my eye sight has dwindled, 

And once I don’t get carded at restaurants or frisked at TSA,

I’ll close my eyes and remember how it felt

To hold my mom and dad’s hands,

To be snuggled between them on the couch,

To sleep over my grandparents house and watch disney on 

DVD. I’ll remember meeting my husband

And our first dance, how my friends cried at their 

Tables and how my great-grandma's watched through

The window, little honeybees in the wind.

Once my husband has died, and I feel

That little voice that whispers your time is soon,

I’ll write down the story of my memories and try

To get them as tangible and beautiful as I’ll still feel them,

So real and current in my heart. I’ll try to remember

Why I had argued with my sister so much, or what my brother

Did to upset me, and I’ll remember all the summers

We spent on the beach, and I’ll prepare to return there 

Again.