My Memory and I

Have you ever written an amazing poem in your mind, but by the time you find something to write with, it's gone? Yeah. Me too.

I walked along a country road

At twelve o'clock at night.

My mind began to write an ode

For all the pricks of light

That lit the sky, celestial code

To keep our pathways right.

I remember using "star"

And also "Capricorn,"

But my late stride was much too far,

And, O, myself I scorn,

For I forgot my ode.  The scar

It left makes me forlorn.

I often sit, or pace, or lean,

And so try to recall

The poems I've composed within

My mind.  Some mental scrawl

Appears upon my eyelids but

I can't decipher all.

O, memory, I love you so!

Why must you give me pain?

You give me all I need to know

To pass or entertain.

So why is there a limit on

How much you can retain?

I've never written down a note

In any class attended

Because my memory and I

Have long ago befriended.

He gives me all the answers, but

His perfectness has ended

Because (and please believe me when

I tell you that I've tried)

I cannot seem to get him to

Return what I supplied:

That starry poem I made up

While on a country stride.

So I suppose the moral that

I get from my own hand

Is that my memory is there

To help me understand

Important things; but he is not

As endless as the sand.

So I am not upset with him--

He truly does his best.

I only wish there was I way

To rearrange his quest:

Prioritize my poetry,

And then forget the rest.

Reviews

[MuSe Ampoule]

This is a clever write and I love the concept of personifying your brain's capacity for memory. The flow and structure is very good and this feels very well thought out.

My memory is a Tart...she cheats on me with Nostalgia all of the time!

[Zoe Jay]

This is an excellent poem. I love the classic elegant structure and rhyme scheme. Your sense of rhythm and rhyme comes across as effortless, it rarely feels laboured, and I admire that. It's an unconventionally introspective poem and I like that, it's more sophisticated than many poems I have read of this type. Very nice emphasis of occasional details to build a self-portrait from an unusual perspective, like something half-seen through a fogged window. It gives a sense of you, while retaining emotional distance. The personification of your memory is an interesting take, maybe not unique, but very well done and introduced without being laboured. I love how natural your writing is, and how fluidly it fills into a measured style. I'm envious!

[goltinfron_nh]

I think we have all had this experience. I like the Robert Frost type theme and self inflection. This poem is definitley on par with my favorite poet. Thank you.

[aloha.]

wow, reminds me of myself. It takes a lot for me to remember things i "write" in my head. i have to write it down immediately or i lose it.
i think every passionate writer is this way though. so i definitely know your pain.

[JelliFyshKissUs]

Happens to me all the time! That's why I'm a phone junkie. I have Wordpad on my phone and I'll jot down what comes to mind the second it enters; I don't care where I am. I love the rhyme and wit. It is such a relatable subject that all poets and novelists alike can attest to. Brilliant. Simply brilliant to write about your friendship with your memory.