Forgetfulness-Billy Collins
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.
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I think Xinyi (yes dear BFF and proofreader, love you lots, and it's not just for the proofreading you do, that's an add-on bonus), you would like this as well because of the style of this poem, as well as the overall atmosphere. I liked these things, as well as how the poet addresses the reader, and his diction, as well as his prose-poetry style which is 10000000000000000 times better than my overembellished one. I would very much like to embody this kind of emotion in my works, ( and so far have been largely unsuccessful), but anyway, I think you'll enjoy this. Cheers to literature.
P.S. Stupid Alexis is annoying the bejesus out of me. I am very much tempted to slam my very heavy english file on her delicate skull and pry open her hollow cranium, but then again I suppose the Biology textbook would be more appropriate. Am a very good girl. Will not succumb to temptation.
