Lost and Never Found

Have you ever wondered

Where the lost-and-never found items go?

I am nearly convinced they somehow find their way together,

Magically, and live in a lost commune:

The socks that will never see their match again

Thousands of keys, lockless

Pieces of childhood memories, too early to be remembered,

Too simple not to be forgotten—

Unimportant, replaced.

All the pens that disappeared from your bag

Important documents that weaseled their way out when you weren’t looking

Schedules, and credit cards, old photographs, one winter glove

(because you can’t lose both, that would be too practical),

earrings,

various pieces of small plastic items, and Tupperware tops (honestly, where do those go!?) those fantastic sunglasses from last summer

that favorite old sweater

lunch money, and t-shirt money, dues,

date money, birthday money, wallets, spending money, and giftcards

(maybe money should get it’s own “where have you gone” poem)

paperclips and staples

thumbtacks and highlighters

old emails you though you saved

and that paper you most certainly wrote but cannot figure out where you stored it

hundreds of dice from countless board games

monopoly pieces

and cards, but never enough to make a whole deck

all that useless material you crammed for all those tests

half-remembered faces, and half-hearted stories of history,

old cassette tapes

and coins you once collected

And I wonder if this “lost and never found” commune is bustling with activity,

covered in “Found” posters—the opposite of here, the opposite of us.

Found: another sock, looking for its mate,

or maybe:

Wanted: a lock for a lonely diary key. Call 519-7780.

I imagine the rare occasion when a match is found!

The commune will probably throw a party

And I bet if you’re in the laundry room and listen hard enough,

Or somehow manage to squeeze between the seat and the console in your car

You can hear the distant cheering

Each lost item celebrating a match

Breathing in the hope that tomorrow will be their own lucky day

And one of us will lose the exact thing they need.