If recollecting were forgetting,

If recollecting were forgetting,
Then I remember not.
And if forgetting, recollecting,
How near I had forgot.
And if to miss, were merry,
And to mourn, were gay,
How very blithe the fingers
That gathered this, Today!

Emily Dickinson

Lost Memory

If recollecting implied forgetting,
Then I do not remember.
If forgetting implied recollecting,
I had forgotten almost all.
If to miss this were merry,
If to mourn this were gay,
How happy the fingers that
Gathered this, Today!

Emily’s strange logic! We must celebrate our poor memory every day.