NOTE TO SELF

Remember this: your memory was never
So very good, for a face more than a name,
Though oftentimes you could be sly and clever
Finessing ignorance, avoiding blame.

There are many ways to circumvent and dodge
Detection when what you seek won’t come to mind,
When what you know you know, you can’t dislodge
From crevices your searching light can’t find.

You simply stall, distract attention, change
The subject, take the pressure off your brain
In hopes your consciousness will rearrange
Itself spontaneously, once freed from strain,

     And then the fact or name you lack may spring
     To mind—Presto!—as plain as anything.

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