We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

18.11.18

If You Forget Me


If You Forget Me

If you forget me, the Universe will come to a close.
It is not possible that you would forget me.

Through three lifetimes (and those only 
the ones we got in touch with) you did not forget me.

When you had Alzheimer’s, you still remembered me – 
though sometimes you got a bit muddled.

You knew always there was a Rosemary you loved.
You knew this woman with you as your dear wife.

Occasionally you didn’t connect them exactly, but
either way you loved me and never forgot me.

You are busy now, up there with the angels,
enjoying the work you do for the good, I know.

But you don’t forget me, you are just on the end
of a thought; when I think you, you are there.

And you look in without being summoned, often.
I see your face, hear your voice, feel your touch.

It could never be that you would forget me.
But if, impossibly, you did forget me –

I would haunt you in reverse, from earth,
chase after you into the stars, through all Heaven,

shake you by your incorporeal shoulders
with my dense, warm, fierce hands

thrusting my face into yours, and yell: 
This is me, Rosemary, your true love, your wife.

I refuse to forget you! And if you forget me, 
I promise, the Universe will already have stopped.


I decided I wouldn't write to prompts any more, but then I saw this one at 'imaginary garden with real toads': to use the title of a Neruda poem as a starting-point. Who can resist Neruda? Not me!

13 comments:

  1. Oh, I love the tenacity in this poem!

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  2. "...when I think you, you are there." This reads like a spell, a breathtakingly powerful spell.

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  3. Oh! This is beyond beautiful, Rosemary 💖💖💖

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  4. But you don’t forget me, you are just on the end
    of a thought; when I think you, you are there.

    This made me cry, Rosemary. I had to stop reading and draw breath for a while.

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  5. Ah, this is emotive and beautiful — the love and remembering makes me feel so warm.
    The first line sets the tone perfectly — I love the call out to the universe itself there, followed by that haunting in reverse, to reach out to the heavens to make them remember. How powerful, how sweet!

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  6. This is such a beautiful elegy -every stanza speaks volumes Rosemary - with your "dense, warm, fierce hands", it would be impossible to forget you. Your love is earthy and tangible and enough to virtually penetrate the barrier of Alzheimer's

    having just been touched by such loss I find comfort in these lines:
    "But you don’t forget me, you are just on the end
    of a thought; when I think you, you are there.

    And you look in without being summoned"

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  7. No way he will forget you...he is always with you.

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  8. This is beautiful. A love this strong is tenacious. I love it!

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  9. Alzheimer's can be such a powerful thing that can hurt the minders in more ways than one. More so when a loved one is involved.

    It could never be that you would forget me.
    But if, impossibly, you did forget me –

    The words above are great! It created the feeling of having understood the ailment and sympathizing with the loved one, Rosemary!

    Hank

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  10. Thought, I had cried out all of my tears for today, until I read this poem, Rosemary. Alzheimer's, is a living death sentence, losing a love one, by a memory at the time. Your beloved, won't forget those cherish moment, the two of you had. Just remind me, never to have you hate me, with such passion.

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