What Do You Need for a History?
A memory that says I was there
even if you didn’t want to be.
Another version of self
that flip-flopped between what you were
and weren’t. A vague premonitionof a better future, even if
you didn’t believe it.
Rings of fire you jumped through,
the burns coming later
dried up into scars.A checklist that followed everyone
but you. Following a way
that offered spectacular views
of foreign lands, climates
there to nurture unknowns.And those times you strayed
holding your heart in calloused hands—
blood trailing—you were there
but once, and no one noticed
that you were gone.
What Do You Need for a History? by Mark Saba | Sandalwood Poetry Reed Diffuser
Mark Saba is the author of poetry titles Flowers in the Dark, Calling the Names, and Painting a Disappearing Canvas.His fiction titles include The Shoemaker, Two Novellas: A Luke of All Ages / Fire and Ice, Ghost Tracks: Stories of Pittsburgh Past, and The Landscapes of Pater. His work has appeared widely in literary magazines around the U.S. and abroad. He is also a painter. Please see marksabawriter.com.
