After a cleanout frenzy today, 

we gave away the wooden blocks,

the ones kept in the big wicker

basket on the coat closet floor,

the ones all three of you used 

to build bridges and houses and

roads, the ones that little boy

with the chubby fingers ran

his matchbox cars over, the ones

his sisters used to build towers

and let him knock them down, 

setting off infectious laughter.

It was bittersweet to give them 

away, but none of you wanted them.

I would like to think some lucky child 

will be thrilled when his mother snaps 

them up at the Goodwill on Broad. 

That child will not see the fingerprints 

of our children, grandchildren, great

nieces and nephews or mine,

but they are all there and hold

so many memories of those 

precious times when you were

all so young and full of joy.

Photo by Valery Fedotov on Unsplash