Can Art Forget? Poem by Maya Hanson

can art forget?
when I hold this page
in my slippery hands
does it lose the muscle memory?

when I spill into fragments
and give them a throne
do they remember to hold the scepter
or will you hear the clatter when I'm gone?

I will lose what I said years ago
unless I save it,
chocolate under my tongue,
unless breezes don't blow away these words
and you stay right here with your head in my lap
and I keep scribbling these maybes.

maybe my bones will remember the feeling
that for a moment could make this art.
can art forget?

I want to map you on my shoulders
in pastel or neon,
I know even if I do it will fade
but if I etch you into everything I leave behind
can art remember?