In the Case of Past v. Memory

How many memories
Of childhood have you left,
Untouched by grave robbers,

Archaeologists, and
Forensic scientists?
And your relationships,

Romantic partnerships?
How many of them stand
In their mental deserts,

Unplundered? In courtrooms,
Experts argue whether
Memories can spell out

With any certainty
Anything of their pasts—
How badly they distort

The facts and how much
Dark truth they hold, suppressed.
Memoirists and poets

Carry on, nonetheless,
Making words serve sobbing
Witnesses who confuse

Cross-examination
By the prosecution
With turns for their defense.

But we’re sneaky like that,
Words are. Not for nothing
We tend to sentences.