@blockurator,

The human mind forgets things, almost as soon as it experiences them, and the longer in time it moves the less it remembers.

The mind filters out that, which for whatever reason, it concludes is unimportant to remember. I am often surprised, looking back, what my mind has decided to remember. Often, I can remember seemingly inconsequential events in great detail, while other things that ought to have been memorable, weren't particularly.

What I have noticed, however, is that my memories seem to be focused on things "pregnant with meaning" ... learning something unusual or that which sparked an unexpected insight. I find it is these things that most inspire me when writing poetry. I was curious if it worked the same way for you.

Moreover, the way I think about certain things, in terms of what they meant (and mean), has changed over time. Rights or wrongs. Justifications or excuses. War plumbs something very deep within us, reality stripped of its posturing and platitudes. Raw, fundamental truths. For me, there is something akin to spirituality about my recollections from that time.

Quill