I don’t remember how I forgot
About acceptance of a deteriorating mind
I don’t remember how I forgot,
or when the story of my life
turned to fountain pen blots.
I am not saying I ever was particularly good
with names, or places or facts,
but in this moment your face is all I got.
I slot memory after memory into vacant air
like dominoes but no pair ever seems to match.
Yet, you smile at me with encouragement and love,
one I still deeply feel and know is true even if
I can’t recall the moments that we shared. I’m scared,
but you are here and that is all I need,
though I fear that I have to let you go,
not that there’s a choice.
This is not a breakup, no moving house or quitting job.
This is holding the hand of your soulmate as now and here
turn to late and there is nothing to do
but spend the past seconds, moments and tears as two.
I’m not dying, it’s true.
But this is the same merciless strutting of time,
that no matter how hard you try,
you can’t manage to stop or slow.
All you can do is savor what’s left,
as life tears apart the people we were
and the dreams we once had.
All you can do is try to accept.
Thank you very much for reading my response to Willow Schroeder’s writing prompt on My Fair Lighthouse.
While writing the poem, I realized I wanted to visually reflect the fragmented, mosaic nature of the mind, which is why I went down the rabbit hole of learning a typesetting tool.
Now, I like what came out of it, it is by no means perfect, maybe it is a bit too wild but in my opinion, it adds value to the poetic experience and, if nothing else, it was a fun challenge for the weekend. What do you think?
Do you prefer the “clean”, “plain” look of minimal formatting with all the focus on the words, or do you enjoy added expression through structure?
