Love Poem: I Tried to Unlearn
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Written by: Ian Souter

I Tried to Unlearn

I Tried to Unlearn

……. his name , his face, his memory
but each morning they kept resurfacing;
rubber ringed feelings that would not sink 
no matter how hard I pushed down.
So I journeyed to places 
that had rooted our relationship:

The park where the broad-shouldered oak
unwrapped delicacies of intimate memories
then leaning in much closer
it shared a consolatory shadow.

The river that coiled past
churned up affectionate thoughts
then rippled onwards to twist back
with a scornful smirk that made fun of me.

The café where he teased
about expressoing our shared ideas
and consolidating coffee compatibility.
Then on the butterfly wings of symmetry 
our relationship seemed to fly to new heights
but was I another Icarus on a solo flight?

So the past that I had plucked at
offered no signs of warning, no signals of regret;
sadly the present, the here and now,
yields no guidance on how to….. forget.

Ian Souter