The final line from each stanza from Billy Collins’ “Fortgetfulness”
Original DDE™ art: “Losing Traction” by: rob kistner © 1/22/26
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forgetting begins as a kindness — you’d soon like to go away
a soft eraser rubbed lightly at the edge of every day
names loosening their grip on familiar faces
home and car keys laid down in too many odd ball places
a sentence abandoned — unlanded… unfinishd slack
staring blankly in the street — where’d I park the vehicle
days filled with ghosts of almost’s – that’ never go away
the mind-glitching pause… not empty — just off track
whose memories are slippery-slidin — slick as a girkin pickle
who have even forgotten how to swim… and how to ride a bicycle
its thoughts widening slowly, not like loss — but like distance
like a field once crossed — now unrecognized from a hill
visions that once drove us — now just no longer will
stories repeated absent-mindedly until we’re not certain why
details thinning — leaving only vague facts without feeling
recall how her voice sounded — not how much she knows
the instincts remembering before the mind goes
step by careful step — less recollection each time
the future left swinging open like a door that should close
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
for whom even the names of their children get blurred
dates soften into seasons — seasons into light
the past is a handful of tones and textures — a lil’ bit’a fright
a dark lamp in a window — title of that song you just heard
something important you were meant to carry
but set down ‘cause it was heavy — fearing it’d fall
language itself grows hesitant — syllables stumble n’stall
meaning drifting ahead without effective explanation
like somebody in a flashback you don’t recognize at all
whose name begins with an “L” — as far as you can recall
no need to feel remorse — say wha… oh yes — of course
no need to hold back — no need to retrieve the “what for”
the mind’s traveling lighter than it ever has before
floating free of lists — passwords — no anniversaries
carried by an instinct older than most memories
older than fears that once made you shiver
forgetting is not failure — it’s peace… why deny it
not erasure — not loss — it’s chaos now made quiet
no resistance or regret — gone… every sliver
it has floated away — down a dark mythological river
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rob kistner © 1/22/26