For dversepoets.com
This is a make-up for a prompt I missed two weeks ago to write a poem using the term "I forgot", "I forget"or "How we Forget".
I forgot what it feels like to be in love,,,
yet I remember certain kisses
I forgot how the elephant raised the circus tent
but remember I once kept a dime in my shoe
I forgot how Brando wept in "On the Waterfront"
until I watched it again today
I remember when I was deliberately lied to
and when I learned to trust again
I remember when you carried me piggyback
because I was barefoot over a rocky trail
I remember your arms putting me gently down on the grass
like finding and losing the holy Grail
I remember the campfire songs so sweet
I forgot candlelit small boats sent downstream
I forgot her birthday on Christmas;
I'm sure she feels cheated each year
I forgot about the one Native American girl in our school,
how alone she must have felt,
I remember her crippled, aged mother
who always smiled at me
I remember the drive through the mountains
as a young girl to the sea
I remember listening to a football game on the car radio...
I remember it was U of W vs USC
I'll not forget the men I have loved
How many have not forgotten me
"I forgot her birthday on Christmas;
ReplyDeleteI'm sure she feels cheated each year"
So many little things, that we tend to forget. Welcome to OLN Kathy.
Forgetting small details is more 'sinful' than forgetting the bigger ones. One is more appreciated for remembering small details as it takes greater efforts to remember these seemingly insignificant episodes
ReplyDeleteHank
Oh this is lovely. I took thought a lot about that prompt and didn't get done in time. I'm glad you shared this today.
ReplyDeleteI love the ending lines Kathy but reading your list poem made me recall Brando too,(how that man can act, wow) ~ And yes, it would be hard to trust again when you have been lied to ~
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your memories with us ~ Have a good Friday ~
Grace
I'll not forget the men I have loved
ReplyDeleteHow many have not forgotten me
I guess we never really forget past relationships.. it stays at the back of our mind.. in the core of our hearts.
Beautifully penned!
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Oh I am so glad you linked this. So many precious lines here. The stanza about the grass and Holy Grail brought tears to my eyes. So many forgets and remembers - all of them incredible.
ReplyDeleteWhat we forget...what we remember. Each of your statements makes me nod in agreement. I think this is one of my favorite poems of yours, Kathy. I think a lot of them have universality...and that is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI grew up by the campfire so that brought back some nice memories. I font think we ever really forget those love's. not completely at least . I like how you went back and forth between what you forgot and remembered.
ReplyDeleteMemory has a quirky logic all her own, doesn't she? Yet in my more cynical moments, I wonder whether it's just women who remember all the men they have ever loved, while the men forget all but the most obvious details.
ReplyDeletePoetTRY Remembers
ReplyDeleteALL when
FREE..:)
A lovely share.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that, and found the ending to be poignant.
ReplyDeleteWow, Kathy, did this stir up emotions for me--you went deep down into the past to dig up those that resonate with so many of us, no doubt. The Native American one really got to me...as did the Christmas birthday--too close for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it but not if it touched any negative nerve...thank you, Victoria
DeleteSo glad you jumped into OLN with this make up poem; yours was one of the best of the "Forget" batch, each line a separate novella, & I like how you interspersed remembrances between what has slipped deeper into the mists of the past. The Brando line was killer. I was just a kid growing up worshipping his career for a decade, before his mental instability began to make him mock his own success & career. From the late 60's on his performances were mostly a joke, his disdain & sarcasm coloring every moment on screen.
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