Keepsakes

When people speak of inheritance, 
usually they mean tangibles—money 
earmarked in a will, left in the bank,
sewn into a mattress; the deed to a tract 
of land, family jewels buried in the earth 
under the santol tree. The value of such things 
supposedly increases with the years: interest 
accrued, the price of gold stable even in years 
of recession. What is possession but another
name for what you cannot keep?  Not nine-
tenths of any law, not the hard and beautiful 
glint of beveled glass. Palm a fistful of stones
washed up on shore, but don't take them off 
the island, lest a dark wing-shadow follow you.