glitter

catching a fleck of glitter on the floor
sends a flash of wonder
imagining its journey

is it like a memory
from years ago
when they were still young

an eye-catching glimmer
of what was
a reminder of what is

---

Postscript

Glitter persists beyond its occasion. Its physical properties make disappearance unlikely; electrostatic charge, irregular geometry, and light weight allow it to migrate, settle, and reappear long after its initial dispersal. A celebration concludes, surfaces are wiped, floors are swept, yet small reflective fragments remain embedded in seams and corners.

Memory follows a similar pattern. Experience distributes itself into the environment and into the body, where it remains available without announcement. Years later, a minor visual stimulus retrieves a field of time with disproportionate force. The effect feels sudden, though the mechanism is gradual and continuous.

A fleck on the floor therefore does not represent the past. It participates in the present as a surviving fragment of prior intensity. What once shimmered does not vanish; it reduces in scale and integrates into the ongoing structure of perception.

Image credit

Jon Sullivan, Glitter (2006).
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Public domain.