Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

David Lehman’s "And About Time" is a meditation on memory and its inevitable erosion, where recollection is both necessary and impossible. The poem opens with an assertion that at the core of every memory lies an oblivion, a void from which meaning must be salvaged. This suggests that memory is fragile, constantly on the verge of being lost unless actively retrieved. The phrase "from time to time a message / Or two must be rescued / Or else." heightens the urgency, implying that without these acts of recollection, something essential is at risk of disappearing. The stark phrase "There is no alternative." reinforces the idea that memory, though fleeting, is vital to identity and continuity.

The line "The sentence, like a dream death, / Can never be finished." introduces a key paradox: the attempt to encapsulate experience is endless, as language itself remains incomplete. This echoes the nature of memory, which is always partial, shifting, and elusive. The reference to "dream death" suggests both the finality of forgetting and the way in which dreams mimic death, momentarily suspending time and consciousness. There is a tension between the desire to fix memory into words and the realization that this is ultimately futile.

The poem then moves into an evocative, surreal moment of trying to read "The notes scrawled on the decaying leaves / Of the branches whizzing upwards / As you tumbled down the yawn / Between mountains." This imagery captures both the transience of memory and the disorientation of time’s passage. The notes on "decaying leaves" symbolize messages from the past, fading as they are perceived. The "branches whizzing upwards" invert the natural order, reinforcing a sense of vertigo and unreliability in recollection. The word "yawn" suggests both an immense chasm and a momentary lapse, underscoring the theme of absence and lost time.

The final lines shift from abstraction to physicality: "irresistible / As the urge to bandage your chest / Days before the injury was expected." This moment complicates time, suggesting both premonition and inevitability. The urge to bandage a wound before it occurs speaks to an anxiety about what is to come, an attempt to prepare for pain that has not yet arrived. It mirrors the act of remembering before forgetting has fully set in, a desperate attempt to hold onto meaning before it vanishes into oblivion.

The poem’s structure is fluid, with enjambed lines that mimic the continuous, fragmented nature of thought and memory. The syntax resists closure, reinforcing the idea that memory is never fully grasped, only momentarily reclaimed. The tone is both melancholic and urgent, reflecting the poet’s awareness of time’s relentless motion and the inevitable decay of recollection.

At its core, "And About Time" wrestles with the impermanence of memory and the paradox of trying to hold onto what is always slipping away. It suggests that forgetting is as much a part of memory as remembering, and that the attempt to preserve the past is both necessary and impossible. The poem’s final image of preemptive bandaging lingers as a metaphor for the way we anticipate loss, trying to shield ourselves from what we know we cannot prevent.

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