Remembering

Life is a collision of dreams

Fragments, moments, flashes

They push, they pound, they pierce

Remember me?

Remember this?

Remember that?

A snippet of sound, a crackle of light

A whiff of a scent

But wait

It’s gone

Broken melodies crowd the ears, the mind

Like neurons firing:

Remember me?

Remember this?

Remember that?

But it’s like the phantom limb

It’s neither here nor there

Or perhaps it’s everywhere

You see it, probably even feel it

But you can’t quite reach it

On the tip of the tongue, the tips of the fingers

Surely you must

Remember me?

Remember this?

Remember that?

To follow a disconnected thread, a pattern without a path

Trying, trying, trying

Where did it all come from?

How did you even learn that?

Voices are there too, but despite their frenzy, they’re faded

You strain your ears, your mind, your heart

To hear the voice

See the face

Touch the hand

Just one last time

Remember me?

Remember this?

Remember that?

But in remembering you forget

To be you

To hold on to that

To remember this,

This is life

And life is now.