Another poem from my collection about psychological disorders. There is a scene in Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass in which Alice finds herself in a forest and has completely forgotten her name and the reason why she is in the forest. This poem is about that amnesia.
Tea Reading
Cortex means tree bark
and is where old memories are made.
Live oak with leaves like sharp teacups,
Valley oak with soft curling saucers.
Leaves that break underfoot.
I have neat fingernails and dark blunt hair
but I lost my name
where grey bark curls against oak trunks.
It might be tucked under a cup or a saucer
So I brew tea and drink it and try to find my name in the leaves left behind.
Amnesia
Cortex means tree bark
and is where old memories are made.
Live oak with leaves like sharp teacups,
Valley oak with soft curling saucers.
Leaves that break underfoot.
I have neat fingernails and dark blunt hair
but I lost my name
where grey bark curls against oak trunks.
It might be tucked under a cup or a saucer
So I brew tea and drink it and try to find my name in the leaves left behind.