heart-shaped box

this is the memory that just broke out:

when i was a little girl
i had a box
of things i could not lose
things to take if
i had to go
things i would carry with me

was it an old jewelry box? the family treasures?
a shoe box, filled with scraps of fabric from my grandmother's sewing room
a woven box, made of palm fronds, and filled with beads
three single earrings, a st. christopher medal, and bits of seashell.
a tiny scarab and a red stone.
a note.
and later, maybe a picture.
a time capsule
a love letter
to the moment

now i am the box, and i go picking scallop shells
and tiles of glass
and all the ground aglitter with mica
that blows in the wind