Week 10, Theme 3

Prompt: Use Joe Brainard’s I Remember as a model. Let the phrase “I remember” work as an anaphora (the opening phrase), creating a formula, or a kind of container, for your writing, a mould to pour your prose into. Write twenty or more “I remember”s. Experiment with the length of sentences and memories you include; think about the series they make. Where do your “I remember”s begin, and where do they end?

I remember last night.

I remember choosing the orange pants.

I remember remembering how they didn’t fit before the illness.

I remember showing my room to freshmen as I ran out the door.

I remember wondering if they were intimidated by me.

I remember the bus ride to the bowling alley.

I remember ordering a gin and tonic.

I remember telling Sarah that I got “so into gin and tonics during my recent holiday in London.”

I remember spilling a whiskey sour on my orange pants. No stain.

I remember spilling a whiskey sour on a white dress. No shame.

I remember the hurried flurry of napkin patter to the lace of the dress.

I remember bowling a 34.

I remember spilling a drink in the gutter.

I remember choosing the pink bowling ball and laughing.

I remember not taking any photos with the birthday girl.

I don’t remember the bus ride home.

I don’t remember texting him.

I don’t remember taking off the whiskey orange pants.

I remember staring at the dim screen at 3am, scrolling through photos of people I’d seen at the alley, judging them.

I don’t want to remember crawling into bed, alone.