paper and dust

Io sono, io ero, io sarò.

paper and dust 2026.05.29


i have boxes of docs from decades ago
all legal and all proving they lived or maybe 
just that they existed
right up until the point they didn't 

and i suppose my signature
on those final testaments
prove that i persisted 
or at least that i had sinecure

i suppose it's why i can't 
dispose of them
to depose them
for they have such power over me

there's no one to leave them to

nobody to prove a bloodline

i have a map by nicollette
of the upper mississippi basin
well before my ancestors 
moved into the region

it names the mini akipan kaduza
if you look closely
i doubt it would show up
on google maps or gps

but we who grew up
and are buried there 
know it exists
and will persist

long after the ink 
of my name
on the paper wills
decays into dust 

io sono, io ero, io sarò

i am, i was, i will be 

---

The Road and The Sky - Jackson Browne