Forgetting It All →

Floyd Skloot, writing for The New York Times’ Draft blog:

If I don’t write down a thought — or an image or a line of poetry — the instant it comes to mind, it vanishes, which explains why I have pens and notebooks in my pants and coat pockets, the car, the bicycle basket, on one or two desks in every room including bathrooms and the kitchen. If I have an idea while driving, I ask my wife to take dictation. I have trouble remembering the flow of events, each action erasing the next. In question-and-answer sessions after a reading or during an interview, I forget the question if I’m giving too long an answer. And at the end, I can’t remember any of the questions. The more anxious I am about remembering, the more likely I am to forget.

The last paragraph of this piece will stick with you for a while.