garage sale

the cardboard box flops open revealing
one life's treasures now put up for sale
frames and frames of memories
faces tied to stories
perhaps to moments best forgotten
or maybe defining changes
the life now lying buried
sees not the strangers' staring
careless hands toss photos
that were once carefully selected
a long-lost love, an estranged child
dearest friends and family
one after another they depart
coins given for priceless thoughts
squares of wood and metal
now repurposed for another
until someday they find their way
into another box and it closes
the cardboard flaps now sealing
another life within

pause a moment and remember
the words that linger still:
"as you are now so once was I
as I am now soon you will be
remember these words as you follow me"