Thursday, April 18, 2013

This fun outfit is in honor of National Poem in my Pocket Day. I had to have something with pockets so I could carry my poem with me all day and pull it out to share with students, etc., and this Talbots skirt fit the bill nicely. I thought it looked smashing with my new dot linen Sweater from J. Crew.
Belle Flower Skirt, Talbots; Factory Linen-Cotton Polka Dot Popover in Hickory Natural, J. Crew; Jewelry, Talbots.

And here is my poem for poem in my pocket day:

Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

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,
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.

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