CURIOSITIES

Put all that eludes you

in a shadow box.

Arrange the accumulated enigma

into an assemblage,

like the ephemera

of memory,

like cuttings,

deadwood and thorn.

Fix it within

the case. Hang it

in a gallery

for all your acquaintances

to see. It will be though

the conversation piece

no one talks about.

The auctioneer

can’t auction off

imagination,

so how can your guests speak

to what's not theirs to know:

the secret desires

and strange curiosities

nervously collected by another

once upon a time.