Forget

Lavendar-Age 87
I forget
All the time
I forget to take my medicine
I forget if I have turned off the oven
Or even if I have an oven
I forget to go to the bathroom
I want to remember the faces of my children
But they never come to see me
So I forget what they look like now
And remember them only as they were when they were small
Sometimes I forget my husband is dead
And so I get up to fix him dinner
But I forget I don't live at home any more
And I no longer have a kitchen
So I wander around the hallways
Because I forget how to get back to my room
I forget I need to put on clothes
And so they take me back to my room
And they tie me to my bed
I forget how I get the bruises
Or how long they take to fade away
I want to remember when I was young
And photographers took pictures of me
And put me in magazines
To sell the things everyone seems to need
But no one wants to take my pictures
Even if I forget how many times I’ve freshened up my lipstick
I forget exactly how much life I have lived
So I try to remember the things I did
But I have done so many things
I forget I'm still alive
And have more things left to do
Everyone I remember are dead
And I forget the people who talk to me
Are not the friends I used to play with when I was young
I forget when my family is supposed to visit
So I don't miss them when they don't show up
And I forget if it is worse to forget
Or to be the forgotten