The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
by Billy Collins
The last lines! I am utterly in love with this narrative that captures perfectly my experience of perceiving the written word. <3
I just love it, it’s so…true. 🙂
Honest, powerful and worthwhile words. Thank you for the poem.
I am glad you liked it. I thought it was worth sharing, so much truth in it. Thank you John.
It was. Good words and thoughts needs to be read. You are welcome my dear friend.
Reblogged this on johncoyote and commented:
Amazing poetry shared.
Thank you for the reblog John.
You are welcome and hello from chilly and cold Michigan.
Greeting back from Ohio 🙂
[…] Forgetfulness […]
This applies to a number of us 🤗
Yes, it does, he nailed it.
I love Billy Collins! He speaks the truth! Coming to terms with age-related memory loss is humbling. A good friend of mine told me yesterday that her 50-year old daughter in a fit of anger had hurled an insult at her mother about her forgetfulness. As we talked about it, I consoled her as best I could, and just told her to smile, knowing her daughter would eventually begin to forget some things herself, but she’d likely never forget that she’d insulted her mother for what happens to us all–and will happen to her, too!
Imagine what people did when they didn’t have a cell phone and Google to help cover up what we can’t recall on our own! 🙂
Aging is tricky, isn’t it? An old song plays on the radio and I know every word of it, even though I haven’t heard it in many years. I get up and go into another room, and wonder what I wanted to do.
I think we were better off without google and cell phones, we had to focus more, research deeper, had to learn and remember things on our own. Gosh, I sound like my grandma don’t I?
Hey, you and I both love your grandma!
I have accidently reread books and been 2/3 of the way through before it begins to feel a tiny bit familiar and then I go look it up and find I’ve read it before. Sometimes I get to the end and write a review and when I post it on Goodreads I find I reviewed it previously. Interesting to see if I still feel the same about the book on the second reading.
Oh, this is too good. I am so glad it’s not just me. I do the same with movies. They feel familiar but I continue watching because I don’t remember the ending and then, when it finally dawns on me, I remember that I liked or disliked them before.
And I’m relieved to hear others are having the same experience I wrote about in No Recall (https://stacesplace.blog/2021/04/06/no-recall)
Sounds totally unfamiliar!!
I bet 🙂
Excellent
Ooh, this one is fairly close to the bone 🙂
I know, right?
It seems I can recall remember song lyrics from way back then, in every language I understand, but I can tell that some things are slipping lately and it drives me mad. It’s a daily reminder of aging.
When I have these realizations, or hear of others like you who have them too, I say “Consider the alternative (to aging.).”
And there are two. Dying or not to allow age to bother us. After all it’s just a number, which doesn’t match with the one I seem to have inside.