Memory Keeper

She chose to collect memories
And keep them within her for safe-keeping
She imagined all the thrill there would be
All the joy this would bring
Wheee she yelled inside
Glowing almost entirely at the prospect
So she begins, stacking them
One by one like the old
greeting cards that some
choose to sell-off to the paper-vendors
She holds on to them dearly
And so, at once, she chances upon a memory
And the joy that fills her
So completely. So enormously.
She is jumping.
And whispers - it's almost a squeal but no one seems to hear.
She tries again. Some lend their ear. Some don't.
So she tries. Again and Again and Again.
And she stands like a chaperon waiting for a ward to arrive outside
a bustling school gate.
No one seems to notice.
And those who do, shrug
shrug and walk away.
And she's trying to hold on to the memories
And she can't give them away.
It's all she can do.
Hold on to them
And act like it doesn't matter
That she doesn't care
Just as no one does
So she keeps them
Like little bottled jars of exquisite perfume
That seek to be shared
Their whispers, their smell
They yearn to be heard
To be listened to
But they lay there contained
And she no longer squeals
No more glowing cheeks
Just some memories
And she, their keeper.