Woodburn Tulip Festival Series #3, Pastel, by John Cummings
Forgotten and Remembered
Am I my memories or simply me?
If I forget it all, will I still be?—Anon
I have forgotten
how to solve a quadratic equation
the pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty (or any dynasty)
the Krebs citric acid cycle
how to calculate square roots
the names for most figures of speech
the anatomy of a squid
how to read musical notation
Latin
most everything else I learned in school.
I still remember
the tribes of the Iroquois Confederation
the names of the formations in Stonehenge
every insult and injury dealt me
every loving stroke or praise
how fond I was of all my pets and how it hurt when they died
all the women I’ve made unhappy
the one woman I seem to please
many things I never learned in school.
I’d like to remember forever
sunlight setting my cat’s ears aglow
the grunt of pleasure a petted dog makes
the sound of a waterfall
strawberry ice cream melting on my tongue
what fun it is to ride a horse
moonlight
swimming in the Aegean Sea
my love’s body clasped to mine
what it’s like to be alive.
_______________
Dan Liberthson
Review by Claire Scott
I love the jingle at the start of the poem. The words of a child. And then your wonderful poem about remembering and forgetting and how they dance together. It seems the writer has forgotten many school-learned facts, but holds onto emotional memories. I am not sure why he remembers the Iroquois Confederation or the names of the formations in Stonehenge. It is because both are connected to emotional memories rather than facts? Maybe make that clearer. I love the single line “Latin.” Me too!! But the emotional memories are powerful, from insults to praise to loving pets. And then the “one woman I seem to please,” an understated line which is beautifully echoed at the end. And the beautiful last verse. I love “sunlight setting my cat’s ears aglow” and the single line “moonlight.” I am not sure about the strawberry ice cream line. I think that is an overused memory. Check with others. The last two lines are fabulous. Being alive and in love is what is so important. And that memory needs to last. Bravo!
Review by Kathryn de Leon
I was pulled into the poem with the first two lines; I majored in math in college and went all the way to advanced calculus, but it’s been about 45 years since then, and I’ve literally forgotten all of it. I’m not even sure what a quadratic equation is and I certainly don’t remember how to calculate square roots. We forget so many things as we get older, but thank goodness there are a lot of lovely things we remember.