vanished things (reprise)

Where do vanished things go?
(and why do they keep disappearing)

you have disappeared,
for the second time this week,
wallet on the counter, a thrum of music in your ears,
a ghost of a memory, haunting me

Where do vanished things go?
And do they ever come back?

Do they wander
and wonder where they ought to be?
Or have they gone someplace that we cannot?

Where will I go, when I disappear?

I wonder if you  remember this place, the other place:
Chasing life around the halls of this city,
Tumbling on uneven grass
Silly jokes and orange peel, thrown across a crowded cafeteria
Joked readings of Othello,
put money in thy purse, you yelled, and we laughed –
do you remember that time when everything broke;
we were talking about a novel that someone had read
you lost your breath, and we lost our minds
I laid your head on the floor, and we waited for you to wake up
Do you remember piano rooms and endless tunes,
planning your next adventure
– to ecuador, the circus, the ocean

And I wish I could remember it all
So I could play it on repeat 

Where did you go?
And where are you now?

I hope that, at least,
Wherever you are
The sun sets perfect, every day
And you are travelling the world
Every place you ever saw
Or ever wanted to see
Carving life into the lost place

You will never be forgotten
In my memory, you are still here

But in the the lost place,
Where vanished things go,
You are at peace