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I know the actor’s name…wait I’ll come up with it, he was in the movie…gosh, I can’t recall the title either. I can see the scene in front of my eyes, it’s crystal clear, yet the names are gone…poof…disappeared.
Finger on the keyboard, staring at the screen. I know I wanted to research something and needed Google’s help but what was it? It always comes back, the actor’s name pops up in my brain right before I go to sleep, and I recall what I was searching for on the computer when I prepare dinner in the kitchen.
Going into a room to get something, or did I want to check something? Why did I go there? Oh, how we all hate these situations that make us aware of our age.
The brief memory loss, blank spaces, brain games, brain training, and supplements are all part of a special chapter in our lives. We might as well accept it, perhaps even embrace it, humor it, and deal with it -one way or another.
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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.
“Forgetfullness” by Billy Collins
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I wanted the comment but I forgot what I was going to say… 😏 Great read and really relatable.
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Thanks for the smile 🙂
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This is spot on! We all get there from time to time and more often the older you get. Thanks for sharing this look at life in the … starts with a g, some kind of year. It will come to me later.
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Brilliant. I can’t even remember whether I have read a book or not
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Great share, Bridget. One of my favorites! I enjoyed your intro. 👍🏻
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As I get older, and older, and really OLD, I find myself contemplating the here-after. I walk into my bedroom and think to myself, “what was I here after?”
A good friend of mine reminded me that memory was the 2nd thing to go. I don’t remember the 1st. oops.
The thought isn’t on the tip of your tongue, even some obsure corner of your spleen… That cracked me up.
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“The memories retiring at the southern hemisphere of the brain, in a little fishing village without phones” made me laugh.
It’s a brilliant poem that’s spot on.
I hate these blank moments when I can’t remember why I went to my screen. There was something I wanted to do and them poof it’s gone.
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I love this poem, and I’m going through some forgetfulness myself. 🩷🌸
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Maybe our head gets too full? 🙂
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I like your reasoning. 😀
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This all feels so familiar. I think. But I may have forgotten.
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Oh, I know how you feel.
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I’m with Nancy…Collins’ poem conveyed all of the painful bits but in such an artful way. Relatable. Thanks, Bridget.
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He has a brilliant way and the perfect voice to read his own poem.
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So many things in life are best served with laughter, much better than crying!
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Laughter is a choice in the end 🙂
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Normally the best one!
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Brilliant! If we don’t laugh about it, we will cry.
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Laughter is the only defense we have.
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Old age is the age where everything old is new again…and again….and again. It takes two of us to complete a sentence or a thought some days. Scientists say not to worry if you forget where you put tour keys, but to worry if you forget what the keys are for. Time to reformat the hard drive. 😁Allan
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“It takes two of us to complete a sentence,” that’s too funny (and so true).
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Collins’ poem is superb. When I read it, I felt it conveyed the progression of forgetfulness quite well while making light of it in a dignified way. So, when I listened to him read his poem, the laughter surprised me. Maybe it was his appealing delivery. Thanks for sharing your reflections along with the poem. 🙂
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I felt exactly the same way. I loved the poem when I read it, and how could I not, it’s the truth – as far as I remember – but listening to the author reading his own poem, that’s when I laughed as well and it surprised me.
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This post hits home. Thank you for sharing the awareness we all need to heed.
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It’s not easy to accept this new reality. I know I struggle with it and so does my husband. Humor helps.
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