Anonymous "I Can't Remember"
Just a line to say I'm living
that I'm not among the dead,
Though I'm getting more forgetful
and mixed up in my head
I got used to my arthritis
to my dentures I'm resigned,
I can manage my bifocals
but God, I miss my mind
For sometimes I can't remember
when I stand at the foot of the stairs,
If I must go up for something
or have I just come down from there?
And before the fridge so often
my poor mind is filled with doubt,
Have I just put food away, or
have I come to take some out?
And there's a time when it is dark
with my nightcap on my head,
I don't know if I'm retiring, or
just getting out of bed
So, if it's my turn to write you
there's no need for getting sore,
I may think I have written
and don't want to be a bore
So, remember that I love you
and wish that you were near,
But now it's nearly mail time
So I must say goodbye, dear
There I stand beside the mail box
with a face so very red,
Instead of mailing you my letter
I opened it instead
This poem is talking about a person that is losing their memory. The person is mixed up in the head, has arthritis, has dentures, uses bifocals, and is losing their mind. Basically, the individual is getting old, and is expressing all the things that happen to a person in their old age. This is a letter to someone who the writer does not know if he has written to the person before about this or not. When going to mail the letter out, he stands by the mailbox waiting for the mail person to arrive. Instead of getting the letter out, he opens it because he did not realize that he was sending a letter. The reason why I chose this poem is because it reminds me slightly of my grandmother. She is a great woman, but sometimes she forgets what she is doing, when she is doing it. Normally she misplaces things, and does not know where she put it for “safe keeping”.