Our memories

Take us to some of our stories

That happened

At some points in our life

As they survive

In our mental archive

For us to retrieve

If we feel the need

Or they may just pop in

Without any notice or warning.

Our mind could be busy

With something unrelated

But our memories may find it easy

Just to jump in and be seated.

 

Our loving memories

May have been spoiled

As previously they may have been oiled

By our unconscious mind

And given some special place

For them to hide

So that more easily they are able to surface

When we feel like we need that access.

 

In contrast

The memories that are sad and depressing

Knowingly or unknowingly

We may be repressing,

They may feel unwelcome

It may be too hard for them to come.

But if the original event

That caused the imprint

Was too painful or too deep

Then no matter how hard we try

The memories may be impossible to hide

They may just start to creep

Into our mind.

They find their ways to get out

From wherever they were left out,

And take us back to the scene

And we may be forced to relive

The same distant dream.

 

Careless days of childhood living

Most of us think

If we could just

Go back in.

Such memories we all like to cherish

Which make them very hard to perish.

 

Birth of a child

Or a romantic encounter

We find them hard to forget

And easy to remember.

 

Some sad memories we cannot forget

Trying to do so

May create our own regrets.

Lost loved ones

Lost loves and lost friends

Memories that filled some

Meaningful events.

These imprints are too hard to erase

Even when time tries to do its job

Forcing them to fade.

But our mind knows how to remaster

And brings them alive with all their luster.

 

In our lonely moments

Memories become our friends,

When nobody else is around

They can always be found.

They follow us like a shadow

They are persistent and usually

They don’t withdraw.

They may help us to forget our pains

Or they may fill up more

Making it impossible to drain.

They may slide us into a state of calm and peace

Or a heavier burden inside they may just increase.

 

I still remember

The memories of my father

The day he died,

Thousands of miles away

Not much I was able to say

Could not do much

So I just cried,

Curled up in my bed

Surrounded by the void

That was just created,

The whole world seemed so empty

Although there were people around

I felt like nothing was able to fill

The hole that just has been drilled

Inside me.

Many years have passed

But the memories still last

I see him in my dreams

So vivid that they seem to scream

As if they are real,

He looks like he is not dead

But I wake up soon

And find out the reality instead.

It takes minutes for me to get adjusted

As things settle down in my mind

So that it can be rested.

The last day I saw him keeps repeating

In my mind

As reality keeps defeating

What I try to believe inside.

 

Memories

Regardless of the way they act

They are here as a basic human fact

They influence our actions

Whether we like it or not

As entries

In our mind’s registries

They occupy their spots.

 

A crucial human ingredient

Needed to make a human sufficient

We may not feel it until we start to lose

Consequences become clear

When we suffer from its impairment.

Loved ones notice the effects readily

As they see the victim slip away from them

Slowly.

Their hearts may be beating and all other functions

May remain active

But to basic human interactions

They may fail to stay reactive.

The essence of being a human

Is what may start to disappear

As the role of our memories in our life

Becomes so clear.

By,

Kris Mojag

Written somewhere in California in an evening with some heavy memories in mind, in September of 2021.