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Ode to Anamnesis
2024 · 28 lines · 7 stanzas
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POEM: P-04 · Ode to Anamnesis
2026 · 28 lines · 7 stanzas
Ode to Anamnesis
the annals pass me by, receding shores
of water, precious, linger out of reach
the memories like branches of ambrose
forbidden fruit, so tantalising, sweet.
of water, precious, linger out of reach
the memories like branches of ambrose
forbidden fruit, so tantalising, sweet.
alas! how ever-flowing life evades
the tired grasping of my callow mind
the infinite abundance that pervades
a life to which, all-seeing, I am blind.
the tired grasping of my callow mind
the infinite abundance that pervades
a life to which, all-seeing, I am blind.
the firmament, emerging from a swathe
of clouds, a cobalt fixture beaming down
upon the viridescent meadows, bathed
by bubbling streams, with poppies crimson crowned.
of clouds, a cobalt fixture beaming down
upon the viridescent meadows, bathed
by bubbling streams, with poppies crimson crowned.
the hearth, the harbour of a passion true
affection fabled to restore, redeem
the warmth of an embrace, an "I love you"
a myth, a reverie, a childish dream.
affection fabled to restore, redeem
the warmth of an embrace, an "I love you"
a myth, a reverie, a childish dream.
such beauty, disregarded! brushed aside
disposed of with such ignorant disdain
directionless stampedes, a surging tide
predestined for naught but a hurricane.
disposed of with such ignorant disdain
directionless stampedes, a surging tide
predestined for naught but a hurricane.
but I'm imprisoned in an hourglass
and hearts and pocketwatches tick away
the rising sun descending far too fast
the evanescence of a single day.
and hearts and pocketwatches tick away
the rising sun descending far too fast
the evanescence of a single day.
ten and seven years have passed me by
a decade, two anon, a life unlived
half-remembered, embers, dimming, die
the blaze of memory does not forgive.
a decade, two anon, a life unlived
half-remembered, embers, dimming, die
the blaze of memory does not forgive.
Annotations
Stanza 1: ambrose — a variant of ambrosia, the food of the gods; here, memory as forbidden fruit, sweet and out of reach. Also a reference to the myth of Tantalus, cursed to live in thirst and starvation while food and water remain just out of reach.
Stanza 3: viridiscent meadows — the green of the world as a persisting image, bathed by streams that echo the Lethe and the Mnemosyne.
Evolution
Spontaneously written after a failed attempt to remember a topic to write about. What better topic to write about than memory itself, when it fails you?
- Liminal — 2025
- Algea — 2024
- Heart of Ilium — 2023
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