Slipped From Memory! (Inspired By Emily Dickinson's Poem)

Reading Emily Dickinson's poem ‘A cloud withdrew from sky....' I glanced at her time line- She passed away at the age of fifty six. A very young age by the standard of today's average life span. It has been a favorite poem of mine; but today The thought of poem struck me like a thunderbolt! Had she lived longer would she have reflected More upon pain of memory loss. Memory is not always so hermetic. It drains through the tulle of aging mind Like water siphons through sand. How peevishly I am becoming aware of this Faculty of mind being subdued or unresponsive. The tight walls of memory are crumbling And crumbling fast! Time is her accomplice and co-conspirator. Together they are robbing me of all my precious experiences Steadily and conspicuously. I try to hold on to it but when reminded of some past tale, I realize how much of it is lost, never to be found again. Oh! How I wish to look at a cloud and its auxiliaries, Be mindful of it and preserve it all in my memory, But it floats away in oblivion ever so swiftly To become trapped in dark dungeons of brain, Like those sought after words of vocabulary I struggle to find and recall from memory When expressing a thought in poetry.