He didn't know it when he started
bleeding memories from all his pores
in little droplets that evaporated
and made their way to that faraway place
where all lost things go
when they lose name and meaning.

Bleached, blanched, drained of emotion,
he became an empty nest
whose bird had stopped singing
and was nowhere to be found.
He just hung there all day long,
gently rocking to and fro
as if swayed by a breeze.
not uttering a word, not crying.

Only we kept crying over his loss
and we kept searching.
Until one day, he stopped rocking.

Much later, while walking the beach,
I picked up a shell from the sands
and from a childhood habit,
I held it to my ear
and i heard the ocean and its waves
and i was reminded of him.