Norman Savage (Seven Poems): “Memory contains our desire; and we know our desires by their absence. It allows us to feel”; “Even when I had a dental plan, I was fucked. Genetics and diabetes”; “We are much dumber than what we suspect we are; we are around just long enough to become a nuisance”

1. What’s the point of a memory? What’s the meaning of what’s already gone?

Memory is a tricky thing.  Nothing is lost; nothing is gone. If that should happen, you’re too old, your arteries have hardened, or you have Alzheimer’s or dementia and have little or no recollection of things at all–even eating and finally breathing. But baring those calamities, our past is our constant present, it informs, whether consciously or not, all we do. And if one believes in that–which I certainly do–than our future is informed by it as well, and so our present contains most, if not all, of those seeds as well. Memory does something else as well, perhaps the most important thing: it allows us to make up stories and lie. Lie to both ourselves and to those who are listening and to those who want to bother us. How else, except by memory, do we know which assholes to avoid? to snuggle up to? to tolerate? because we have to? Memory contains our desire; and we know our desires by their absence. It allows us to feel something before we experience it; it supplies texture and smell and sound. It gives us the illusion of hope. It allows us to get through something–because we already have; and it reminds us that the cage we live in is not completely closed.

2. My Dad once traded a tractor for a few root canals. Do you have a dental care plan or are you fucked?

Even when I had a dental plan, I was fucked. Genetics and diabetes played havoc in my mouth from an early age. I have some government coverage, but because I had some good work done before that happened, I’ve not had to use it. All my mouth’s roots are long gone and I’ve been making do, so far, with what has replaced the natural set of choppers I was born with.
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