It passes the childhoods of people
it doesn't know, meeting aunts
with hennish stop-and-go eyes
and uncles with tiny square teeth.

It finishes school, mourns the loss
of parents, has lunch with exiting lovers,
wanders through the park
holding hands with someone who
relies on it more than it likes.

It knows it is gradually being replaced
by memory and remorse.
A high-school girl takes up its theme,
then goes on to something else.