When I go out I take my phone

My watch my wallet and my comb

My season ticket and my hat

My keys of course but not the cat

I close the windows and the doors

Put on my shoes and then I pause

And check the list that’s in this poem

And then I go to where I’m going

My memory is fine I guess

Apart from putting name to face

I have routines for every purpose

And sticky notes on every surface

Good memories more than a few

That bring a smile when I am blue

And who’s to say my memory’s rotten

I can’t recall what I’ve forgotten

   Remembering,

   All the things you need to get you through the day

   Forgetting,

   It’s so hard to keep forgetting things as memory fades away

I went to university

And somehow I got my degree

It’s strange to think that I once knew

Enough to fill a book or two

But life moves on, the page has turned

Don’t ask me now the things I learned

And no one cares about your grades

For wisdom grows where knowledge fades

   Remembering,

   All the things you need to get you through the day

   Forgetting,

   It’s so hard to keep forgetting things as memory fades away

And round my house strange objects lie

Reminding me of years gone by

A wooden elephant called Ron

A marble cat with one ear gone

And in my attic there you’ll find

The things my loved ones left behind

Dog bowls and baskets and the like

All destined for some land fill site

Repeat first verse

 Chris Flegg  June 2011