What is left behind?

Me

You

We

Paper clips and candy wrappers

Friends from high school

Friends from college

A car, in the parking lot of a bar, when you’ve had too much to drink

A CD, a favorite one, in 1998, in your ex’s car

Doggie bags full of leftovers

A credit card

A debit card

A driver’s license

A penny in the “take-a-penny, leave-a-penny” bowl

Parents, when moving out

The open road

A pile of work

Notions and preconceptions

Hope

Dignity

Shame

Any semblance

All my belongings

My naivete

Youth

A mid-life crisis

Friends

Family

Rainbows, wherever I go

My best recipes

A 20% tip, at least

Notes of appreciation

You, to clean up this mess

You, to do all the washing up

The laundry, in the dryer

The laundry, in the washing machine

Directions for tonight’s dinner

The rolling hills of our last stop

Some unfinished work

A letter

Panic and destruction, in my wake

Half a pancake

Half a waffle

None of the french fries

A cigarette butt

Empty beer bottles

A mess

A wreck

High school sweethearts