Unremembrance

“Abstract Brain” by Jack Davis

You disappear in the light

after spending the night in my head,

taking back what you gave me,

the crystals and gems

I have no chance to wrap up in muslin.

You just snatch them right out of my brain,

assembling kaleidoscopes

inside your pockets,

already too full of

amnesia built up

of so many bland

indigestible sleeps.

But for whom will they sparkle

their herringbone joinery?

Are there eyes in your pockets,

amygdalic orbs

set among that detritus

of subconscious chattels?

Surely not mine.

That intricate overstock,

hard with translucence,

must be intended for somebody else.

Unless you have notion

to bring them again. Is that how you play?

Giving and taking, over and over,

the same limbic baubles

you won’t let my open eyes see?

If so then I beg,

before vanishing next time,

please leave me

a name, or a smell,

some imprint

my tongue can re-taste

or my fingers retrace,

so I can be sure

when I sleep

I don’t die.

 

 

(originally posted April 2013)