Memory Poems

A collection of memory poems by Anonymous '20.

Artwork by Anna Mathews '21

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Faulty Memory

I’ve heard the stories.

I’ve seen the pictures.

The same ten stories thrown out as embarrassing anecdotes,

The thousands of albums in our basement

That amuse guests at gatherings.

But when I try to relive these “memories”

I don’t remember.

I can’t feel the sensations,

Can’t hear the words coming out of my mouth,

Can’t see the people, places around me.

It makes it hard to grasp the fact that

They actually happened.

I know I stuck beads up my nose

I know I wrote my name on the back of our couch

I know I engraved my name on the museum plaque

I know I bashed my head into the corner of a chessboard

I know my sister and I fought over the tv remote

I know I used to eat the white part of orange peels

I know but

I don’t remember

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Uncounted Moments

It’s weird.

To think about your life.

I don’t seem to remember

Much.

I’ve only been here

For eighteen years

They say your experiences

Make you who you are.

But, what if

You can’t remember your experiences?

Who does that make you?

Every passing second

Counts as a moment

Yet,

How many of those moments do we count?

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Then and Now

Childhood

I know but

I don’t remember

Adolescence

I remember but

I don’t want to remember

Now

I’m aware and

I don’t want to forget