"Goodbye to the Little Things" (Own Poem)

I'll miss the "big tree,"
gnarled and massive,
three stems extending upward
in an impregnable triangle.

I'll miss how it wasn't scary
or frightening,
with branches untouchable
except perhaps by the feathery
grasp of clouds.

I'll miss the cloven stump
that shattered the unbreakable triangle,
that still to me displays a drawn-on Pokéball,
not a peace sign.

***

I'll remember the glistening expanse
of the lake down the road
and how it left
as my family packed tight
the wood-paneled green van,
drew down the tacky blinds
over the windows,
and accelerated.

I'll remember its silent reassurance,
the calming gray of the white-capped waves
on ominous days,
that sprayed up in spouts
finer than on any blue,
placid afternoon.

***

I'll remember it left me for a time.

***

I'll recall the dusty, rolling fields
that replaced it,
accompanied by a soundtrack
of whirring bicycle tires
moving never quite fast
so as to merely drone over
the exhausting resonance of silence.

***

I'll recall,
I'll remember,
I'll miss,
the small town with so many faces.

So many different faces.