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Too Old to remember

by Chandni Singh
(New Delhi)


Time has fed on me and spat out
a purple veined core of fatigue.
People tell me I am too old
to be alive and
Yet somehow,
I have turned older today.

My mind seems as knotted
as
the gnarled branches of the ancient neem tree
that stands forgotten in the courtyard.
I try hard to trick my thoughts into staying with me
but
age has made my grasp so slippery:
my memory is overoiled and
the details of stories have
smudged themselves into oblivion.

Yesterday, or was it the day before that,
I was leafing through some photographs.
Grinning faces warped
in an almost unbelievable youthfulness
looked back at me.
Me:
the old lady with wasted trembling hands
pale parchment skin
threaded with old veins
like brittle pieces of blue pottery.

I cannot hold onto my thoughts,
oh
did I tell you that already?
So I concentrate on my food,
chewing down each mouthful,
feeling my dentures at work,
up and down:
false teeth and spongy tongue swallow
and
I sit imagining it
slide down my gullet
to the swish of my flatulent gut.
I watch a memory brew its way to me and
I breathe
aching to remember it
again.


--------------------------------------------

P.S: This was the second prize winner at the Poem contest held in November 2012.

Comments for Too Old to remember

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Feb 07, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstar 		Thank you
by: Chandni (author)

Thank you so much to you all for your kind comments.
Feb 07, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Significant
by: nuggehalliPankaja

Being old myself,I can identify myself with your poem,and experience all the tremors and wistfulness!
You have mirrored old age beautifully !
Feb 07, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Beautiful poem
by: Anita R. Belagodu

This is what true poetry is. Seusual and sensitive. Moves you, anchors you to imaginations and you enliven and live to experience with the poet.
Feb 06, 2013
Rating
starstarstar 		Subtle and Sensitive
by: Preetham Kopparam

The poem with its subtle sensitive subject surely evokes a deep emotion. well done

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