Fragments

I think you told me something – – –

I think you told me something – I don’t remember when it was – and maybe I didn’t ask enough questions – or maybe something happened soon after to deplete my attention – because I didn’t think about it again – not once – not until the day my fever broke – and I drove home in a haze – I was trembling – or maybe shaking from the chills – I remembered then – only one thing – a single twig from an ancient tree – it stirred a slow-waking dream – in the weeks that followed – uncertain fragments surfaced – but they were always cloaked in the same wintery mist – and fell about me like so many decaying leaves – or discarded remnants of faded newspapers – these tattered pieces are all that are left – and I sometimes wonder – if I’ve forgotten – or if I’ve remembered something that never happened at all – – –