Objects in the Rear-View Mirror

Photo by Shukhrat Umarov from Pexels

Scattered on the road behind

Like the broken glass after an accident

Are pieces of yesterday’s me

Shards of us

Slivers of a life abandoned

Broken dreams

Broken promises

Broken me

Not whole enough

To be pieced back together

Not whole enough

To be anything on their own

Not whole enough

To be recognizable by anyone but broken me

I stop

And falter

And desperately reach out

To retrieve the ruined pieces

To fill in the holes they left behind

But as I reverse

And draw close

I see

They no longer fit

And their sharp edges

Are snares

That only hurt me

As I reach for them

They turn to dust

And scatter on the wind

Missing pieces forever missing