So much have I forgotten in ten years,
So much in ten brief years! I have forgot
What time the purple apples come to juice,
And what month brings the shy forget-me-not.
I have forgot the special, startling season
Of the pimento's flowering and fruiting;
What time of year the ground doves brown the fields
And fill the noonday with their curious fluting.
I have forgotten much, but still remember
The poinsettia's red, blood-red in warm December.
I still recall the honey-fever grass,
But cannot recollect the high days when
We rooted them out of the ping-wing path
To stop the mad bees in the rabbit pen.
I often try to think in what sweet month
The languid painted ladies used to dapple
The yellow by-road mazing from the main,
Sweet with the golden threads of the rose-apple.
I have forgotten—strange—but quite remember
The poinsettia's red, blood-red in warm December.
What weeks, what months, what time of the mild year
We cheated school to have our fling at tops?
What days our wine-thrilled bodies pulsed with joy
Feasting upon blackberries in the copse?
Oh some I know! I have embalmed the days,
Even the sacred moments when we played,
All innocent of passion, uncorrupt,
At noon and evening in the flame-heart's shade.
We were so happy, happy, I remember,
Beneath the poinsettia's red in warm December.
Notes
Due to the mild climate in Jamaica (the authors birth place) the red (flame Heart) trees he refers to are in beautiful full flower during December. The winter there is simialr to Spring in the northern hemisphere.
Von
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Flame-Heart
From guest Grace Brown (contact)
Am so glad to have found the words to this poem from my childhood! I have to perform it soon at a function, and I particularly like the layout presented, with the beautiful 'wallpaper' in the background... thank you... -
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One of my favourite of his
So much I have forgotten. I had forgotten how much I liked this poem.
The other day on a train trip from Washington, DC back to Chicago, I tried remembering my favourite poets and recollected the name of Claude McKay. But I wish I had remembered the words to this fine poem. I must re-read it and maybe memorize a few lines at least.
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