The Ration Book For Misfortune

Was generous towards me when I was young.
But I was surprised when so many people I knew
gave me their ration of misfortune to add to mine,
telling me 'You can look after it better than I can.',
as if what they were giving had to be preserved
and my preserving it was better for me than it was for them.

It took me getting past the age of thirty
for me to begin wiping my slate clean
of the misfortune others said I had to keep,
and for me being well past sixty
before I could regard what was left
of other peoples pasts as minor stains
I could live with, and own as my own.

Whatever content from that ration book
of misfortune is left is now mine to do with
as I like, as long as I don't seek to recycle it.