Lost

You’ll need it again later
so you put it in a safe place,
but by the time later arrives
it’s disappeared without a trace.

You retrace your steps,
look everywhere,
but it can’t be found.

You search some more.

Has it gone underground?
Has someone eaten it?
Stolen it!

Maybe a sly psychopath
has dissolved it in a bath
of acid
and it’s forever doomed
to become a never to be solved mystery:

‘The Strange Case of the Disappearing…’

But wait,
didn’t you put it on the…No!
Wrong again.

This absent-mindedness is an unwelcome guest.
You’re not about to doff your cap
and show it any respect.

In fact,
it’s exactly the sort of trait that
you’d prefer to keep hidden
under your (should it ever turn up again) hat.