The Knowing*
Extracting mem’ries
with ice picks, frozen in time…
Then, there’s the knowing
© 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, Letter “K”
Also at the cozy poetic nook, Poets United!
*Redacted: SPECIAL THANKS TO VIV FOR CORRECTING MY HAIKU FORM IN THE FINAL LINE! I mean it when I say “criticism is welcome,” because if I had submitted this to a haiku publication, they’d have a good laugh over my 6-syllable former ending! Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
liv2write2day
I “know” this experience. Well stated.
Sharp Little Pencil
I understand and I thank you for this affirmation. Peaceful nights to you, Amy
Roger Green
the memory is so tricky…sometimes incomplete, or false.
Sharp Little Pencil
And sometimes the memory is backed up by so much irrefutable evidence (like confessions of collaborators), it’s solid as brick and thrown directly at your head…
Renee Espriu
These few words ‘pack a punch’ that takes you beneath and beyond. Amazing!
Sharp Little Pencil
Renee, thank you so much. It was difficult to make this thought a fitting haiku… so I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Amy
Poetry & Icecream
Great haiku. I love the last line 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Norma, and glad you stopped by. Love the name of your blog! Amy
Pat Hatt
Nasty ice picks, at least they’ll melt and hopefully not wound too bad..haha
Sharp Little Pencil
Actually, now that I think of it, that’s what they used for lobotomies. EEEW. That skeeves me out, but I’ll come visit you anyway! Amy (and Ghost of Missy the Black Cat)
Nanka
With your kind of knowingness and sharpness of intelligence Amy, I’m sure there is a wealth of possession in the deep freezer vaults. Pick the happy ones to celebrate and let the sleeping dogss lie low.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Nanka. Actually, in therapy, I’m working on coaxing the monsters out from under the bed, so I can have closure. It’s a lot of work – at times grueling, daunting, painful – but it’s worth it to reach that place of forgiveness. Otherwise you keep the bad stuff boxed up inside and it eats you like a cancer. But I also have loads and loads of good memories, and they truly outweigh the bad! Peace and love to you, Amy
vivinfrance
I like the idea of archaeologists picking out memories! Could you cut either the ‘and’ or the ‘ the’ in line3, to make the syllable count right?
Sharp Little Pencil
THANK YOU! See, Viv, you are always spot on with the forms. When I tell folks I value constructive criticism, this is what I mean. Imagine my submitting this to a haiku publication with the wrong syllable count? Bless your sharp eye, dear. Love, Amy
Tilly Bud
A truly chilling haiku, Amy.
Sharp Little Pencil
Linda, you zeroed in on the point. Spot on interpretation, and I thank you for this. Love, Amy
RJ Clarken
This almost seems like a departure for you. Except I know it’s not…
Sharp Little Pencil
Perhaps the form is a departure, as well as the density of meaning. I’m not always the Compact Queen… but I read this and for me, it cut right to the bone. Thanks, Randi. Peace, Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
Wow. This could not have been said any better. The ice pick, and the knowing. Powerful!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Sherry, I knew you would understand this one! Love to you, Amy
Inside the Mind of Isadora
so meaningful … in so few words.
Hugs,
Izzy
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks for the hugs, Izzy. I need all I can get, just coming out of this awful depression. Love, Amer
Dishita
Insightful Haiku. Been a while i visited your place and no regrets of passing again.
Keep Writing.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, DIshita. I’ll have to pop by your place now… Glad you came back! Amy
kaykuala
Amy,
Sometimes we try to remember things which may turn out to be depressing. If only it could be nice and well!
Hank
Sharp Little Pencil
If only, if only/Fair were everywhere… (Tom Chapin) Thanks, Hank. Amy
MM
Another awesome Haiku and a great way of visualising memories. Makes me wonder how many memories people have that will always remain frozen.
Sharp Little Pencil
That’s an insightful thought. I kept this “knowing” at bay until I was about 40; then, manifestations began to pop up and I sorted it out, rather painfully but willingly, in therapy. When you have trauma as a child, the survivor in you “forgets” it… the only way to cope. I write these cathartic poems in hopes that, should someone else have that “I wonder if?” feeling holding them back – or causing them to self-medicate with booze and drugs, as I did in my 20s, they might take advantage of therapy, which is no longer taboo in our society. Blessings, Amy
Madeleine Begun Kane
Wonderful haiku! Unusually good!
Sharp Little Pencil
Wow, thanks for that, Madeleine. Hard to work in the ”seasonal” aspect of haiku, so I used the abstract. Peace, Amy
Andy Sewina
Ice picks frozen in time, is a belting line! I can see them extracting the memories from my head, feel them…
Sharp Little Pencil
You really took this in, Andy. That means a lot to me, because that’s exactly how it felt… THANK YOU! Amy
Meryl Jaffe
Love this. As an educator, so many people think memorizing and recalling is “learning”. Sometimes it is but ‘Knowing” is quite different from ‘remembering’ and this is a great expression their nuances.
Sharp Little Pencil
THanks, Meryl. From the teaching perspective: Yes, “remembering” is being able to regurgitate facts for the test. Knowing sticks with you for the rest of your life!
georgefloreswrite
So much meaning packed in a little package. For me, this was the painful act of examining the past and the awful knowing that comes from it and seeks to cover it, but it can never cover it up enough, just enough to protect me from the tiny jabs of realisation.
Sharp Little Pencil
You have the point exactly, George. Thanks for sharing it. The problem with finally knowing is that you have to find a way to confront it – covering it up only brings more pain. Like I always say, I confront the monster under the bed (or on it). Peace, Amy
mindlovemisery
I’ve nominated you wonderful haiku
Sharp Little Pencil
God bless you, but I’m afraid I have to decline. I’m so overwhelmed just getting back on my feet, and I want to get my blog up to date. But that you SO much for thinking of me, MLM. Peace, Amy