Postcards

I up-ended the contents of the brown envelope

and out fell my younger self

onto the bed

in words read multiple times -

snippets of my life,

now dog eared and aged,  

An accidental record of  

dreams and adventures.

Blue skies and snowy white peaks,

rushing rivers and alpine flowers

providing the clues as to where I was

and on their rear a few scribbled lines -

played down

since I realised

this would be her only security –

no phone calls, no text messages

no emails or WhatsApp group chats

just a postcard held on the fridge by a magnet

and a simple message -

I was alive on the day I sent it.

I had licked the stamp and posted it in the box

and I had made a promise to return.