PANDORA

The napkin, with your phone number,

lipstick-smeared,

rests in the middle drawer of my desk,

along with an answering machine message tape

of the first time you called,

a receipt from our first dinner out,

and a petal from the carnation gotten afterward.

There's the medical report from the skid accident,

an invite to a cousin's wedding,

a ripped Ramses package,

and the divorce papers.

All are kept in a jeweled box

in that middle drawer of my desk.

I don't open it very often

- only when I feel I need to.

I'm down to every three hours, now.