Place

How can place be so significant
I return, repeat that moment years ago

Come back

And the places and spaces haven't changed
Traces remain of my life heretofore
My memory reconstructs the image
As seen by some supposed observer:

     And I am standing there with her
     In the empty classroom
     I've asked her to stay late
     As the others have all gone
     And I stumble on the words
     She waits as I collect them up
     My knees shake, nerves brittle
     The moment arrives, and I ask her
     No, no, no - not supposed to go this way

     Come back

All of these things still are in this space
The echoes continue to persist, carry on
Even as the event itself becomes legend
My own private personal little myth.

Until finally the event is lost in its own repetitions
Swallowed up in the narrative of its own telling.
And I have gone over the story so many times
That I can no longer remember it.

Come back-
Please come back