Na/GloPoWriMo Prompt# 18 : Write an elegy of your own, one in which the abstraction of sadness is communicated not through abstract words, but physical detail. This may not be a “fun” prompt, but loss is one of the most universal and human experiences, and some of the world’s most moving art is an effort to understand and deal with it.
Vilhelm Hammershøi,
On a table next to her bed
three unread books
their spines turned towards the wall
on top of the books is box of Kleenex stamped with birds and flowers
holding them down, keeping them from running away, forgotten but not forgotten.
In the kitchen behind a bag of flour
is a red box full of heart shaped chocolates
tied shut with a wilted silver ribbon
untasted , forgotten but not forgotten
Down in the basement piled inside of plastic crate with a light green lid
interred
behind bags of fertilizer, rusted file cabinets and children’s bicycles
are
photograph albums full of smiling people, sunshine, dogs and cats and Christmas trees
Forgotten.