We are what we remember. And what we want to forget.
We no longer feel comfortable with our own memories even though we say we have
no regrets. We see people as reinforcement and justification. The end justifies
the means and the present is all that matters. There is always a need to
celebrate and memorialise. The selfie is perhaps the endgame of this: ‘See I’m
still here.’ We arbitrarily signpost the past as if 10 years is any more
relevant than 9, or 99 less significant than 100. It’s capturing the past,
cutting off the rough edges and ribboning it: selling it to others and
ourselves. Society rounds us up in a collective memory for easy measurement and
we cling to tradition like a rock as if it wasn’t something we define by the
present. Each world we build we surround by a Lethe, a border-river keeping out
the things we’d rather forget we’d done. Scorch the earth and flood the plains.
Abridged is exploring memory and oblivion in its 0 –
43: Lethe issue.
We are looking for poetry (up to three poems) and art (up to A4
size and 300dpi or above).
Submissions can be sent to abridged@ymail.com
Deadline 1st October.
No comments:
Post a Comment