Journal #1

"Forgetfulness" by Billy Collins
S: an old person
O: an old person talking to someone
A: a grandson
P: let people know what happens when you get old
S: what happens when one gets old
Tone: Reminiscent, sort of sad
Personal Response:
The message of this poem is when you get old you begin to forget everything that happen in your life, especially little things that happened. I think this poem really conveys it's message by going in and out of a list of things that one might forget. He starts off in a list but then jumps into explaining more about one subject then going back into his list. I think that this poem really relates to everyday life because when my mom forgets things once in a while she always says, "you have to excuse me I'm getting old." I think that many adults use this fraise because as people get older they really do forget things and I'm now experiencing that with my mother. Also, my grandfather forgets things a lot to, where as he didn't before. My grandfather use to tell me where my things are when I would lose something but now I have to help him remember things and find what he loses. It's like me and him switch places, when I was really young I would forget things now I'm and I remember things better and he forgets things.