F o r g e t   I t

I flicked the pages of the book,
My thoughts wandering elsewhere
In their own usual jaunts
Leading not to infinity,
Definitely nowhere.
My eye caught the words
Scribbled in a hurry
On one side, not very clear
And the ink had blurred
Perhaps a tear had fallen there
But I could still see
She had written 'forget it!'
Forget what?
My thoughts had come to
Attention,
Forgetting definitely
Their meanderings,
Stopped by this marginalia
Random words
On a page but with so much
In them.
Forget what-
This life, a meeting,
A love affair, a break up?
The words were so emphatic
And clear
I needed to forget so much.
I closed the book and left it there
On the table
A rectangular, lifeless shape
But more than all the printed words
Which I had just flicked through
The margin caught my eye
And the phrase
Whirled before my eyes.
Forget it,
I said forget it.

[First published in Poems Online]