What Memories Are Good For

by Janette Schafer

after Byron Hoot

Everyone is both the wanderer

and the one waiting at home.

Home:

a place,

people I cherish,

God,

longings

of my heart.

Memories:

stories we carry,

regrets

we forgive,

a record

of what is seen

and unseen,

how the one

at the door

and the one

returning to it

are the same.