Etch a Sketch

For Mark and all my family, friends and friends yet to know

I remember holding it above my head and shaking. Shaking away all the wrong turns and awkward squiggles. The sweet in-taking of breath. The endless do-overs. I want to give you an etch-a-sketch for our lives. We tried and made some wrong turns or crossed a line. We went up when down would have been a better choice. I held the knob too long and a gentle slope became a tower. We had squiggled messy, artless, lines of regret. We have focused on the foreground and lost the subtle beauty of the background. I would give you an etch-a-sketch. The power to hold the box and shake. Shake the anger and regret, the past, out of control attempts at beauty and expression. I would give you an etch-a-sketch and endless do-overs. I would give you a way for the mistakes to count for nothing and the promise of a clean slate for everything.