Irretrievable

You're trying to remember what was said,
but you're pulling away from that moment -
What was it?

Your foot is hard on the pedal
and you're in reverse.
What was it?

But you're going in the wrong direction.
You're looking backwards
for something in the past,
something that made you both laugh,
and so reverse is forwards
and away.

All of this not-remembering
is making you hot and bothered.
Maybe if you take off your jacket
and sit beneath those trees?
And so you do.

But everything seems to be working against you.
What was it?
Something is spilling its coffee all over you.

You try to wipe the coffee away.
You think of the things that were in the room at the time.
What were you looking at when it was said?

You hear someone walking past
conveniently speaking into their phone,
"Have you heard, they found something on Mars. . ."

You look even harder for it.
What was it?
And higher, too.
Almost to the horizon.

But you have spotted something on the ground.
What an odd seed!
Velvet at one end
and turning rough at the other.