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“Forgetfulness”
I love how a poem, an essay, or a novel can shimmer with new meaning when you reread it years later — when the defining moments of your own life realign with the story. It’s a bit like running into an old friend who looks better as he ages. I first read Billy Collins’ “Forgetfulness” in Questions About Angels more than 10 years ago. This week, while thumbing through Collins’ anthology, Sailing Alone Around the Room, the poem found me again. And this time my heart jumped as I read the line, “one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain….”…
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Wild things
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” ~Albert Einstein I’m always tickled when my essays are chosen for new story collections. Released this summer, Jennifer Bove’s Wild with Child: Adventures of Families in the Great Outdoors, includes a piece I wrote about surviving Cub Scout camp when my son was a kid. Don’t let another summer weekend go by without spending quality time outdoors. Unplug your gadgets for a few days and reconnect with Mother Nature. Pitch a tent, swim in a river, feel the grass on your bare feet, cook dinner on an open fire, and make your own family memories under the stars. –CL
