Wednesday, June 15, 2016

mmdxcvii

Memory’s Miserable Without You

You’re such a New York boy.
But look at me. Will I always
be craving you? (Look at me,

stupidly believing I’ll always
crave you, always cry out for
you) as I wake up with night

terrors (they’re terrible, so);
that’s what they’re calling
them now. There’s a name

for it; there’s a whole society!
I suppose I’ve never been
unique. This thought brings

me back to “Unique, New
York! Unique, New York!”
and now faster, says the

director of Much Ado About
Nothing
. An anachronistic
production set in the 1920’s.

I was Don Pedro, and all I
really remember were the
quick and plentiful costume

changes (often a uniform
of any sport you’d imagine
Jay Gatsby playing). To

be playing. I just played
on play-acting for years.
But you? Do I actually

even remember you? If
only I could say “Maybe.”
If I could just say “Maybe

not.” But what if I told you
I remember EVERYTHING?
What, then, would that mean

to you? Or whomever? I
skulk around trying like mad
to be remembered for some-

thing. To forget, even. Per-
haps. Yes...No. The truth
is, if I’m so very forgettable,

then why do you try so des-
perately hard (it seems) 
to completely erase me?

to completely erase me