Scraps

Mementos seem to take on 

a life of their own

in this material world

And so it is that

A play becomes a program

A trip becomes a  roadmap

An education becomes a diploma

A home becomes a mortgage

And so on until

Food becomes a recipe

Love becomes a greeting card

Marriage, birth, and death

become certificates 

We bind the bits together

or box them up and put them on a shelf

never to ask the question:

If a lesson is so valuable

why is it that we must keep proof

of its existence