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A stream of consciousness poem/memoir published in 1970, where every sentence begins with āI rememberā. Memory is one of my favorite mediums, and Joe Brainard expertly sculpts memory into a written format that is intoxicating to read. While the memories are specific to him and a certain experience of mid-century America, theyāre also somewhat universal and pretty tantalizing. I found the experience of reading this text to be deeply pleasurable.
Hereās an excerpt:
I remember when polio was the worst thing in the world.
I remember pink dress shirts. And bola ties.
I remember when a kid told me that those sour clover-like leaves we used to eat (with little yellow flowers) tasted so sour because dogs peed on them.
I remember that didnāt stop me from eating them.
I remember the first drawing I remember doing. It was of a bride with a very long train.
I remember my first cigarette. It was a Kent. Up on a hill. In Tulsa, Oklahoma. With Ron Padgett.
I remember the only time I ever saw my mother cry. I was eating apricot pie.Ā
I remember when my father would say "Keep your hands out from under the covers" as he said goodnight. But he said it in a nice way.Ā
I remember when I thought that if you did anything bad, policemen would put you in jail.Ā
I remember a girl in school one day who, just out of the blue, went into a long spiel all about how difficult it was to wash her brotherās pants because he didnāt wear underwear.
I remember the first time I met Frank OāHara. He was walking down Second Avenue. It was a cool early Spring evening but he was wearing only a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. And blue jeans. And moccasins. I remember that he seemed very sissy to me. Very theatrical. Decadent.
I remember that I liked him instantly.
I remember liver.
I remember the chair I used to put my boogers behind.
Mar 20, 2025
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@BISONSPIDER it is, and itās an invitation for us to remember with him, and with each other. How lovely is that š
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This book could be considered just an epic poem and I thought I could get through it quicker but itās basically just a book about everything that this man remembers in his life. Sort of like this site, itās just a list of either super niche human experiences and also vague ones. The whole book goes, āI rememberā¦ā and then a sentence or maybe three will follow. Anything from, āI remember Valentineās Day in school when everyone wore their nicest shoesā or āI remember sunday dinnerā or āI remember whenā¦ā and it will be a specific memory of the writer. It made me really go back and remember things about my life and compare them to the writer but also just remember shit I havenāt thought about in years.
Mar 19, 2025
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sometimes i let myself sink into a memory after going stream of consciousness for a bit. other times i go into a sit specifically wanting to describe a certain one or describing one memory leads me to remember another one.
i love trying to go into as much sensory detail as possible as well as trying to remember other details (what they were wearing, where they were standing, what someone said, how that made me feel, etc.)
it feels like following a mysterious thread through a maze and trusting that you'll be surprised by where you end up.
Mar 9, 2025
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Every memory is as crisp and clear as the day it was made. The good ones which I daydream about, and the bad ones which make me nauseous. I donāt like the latter very much but my brain seems to; playing them like film on the back of my eyelids while I try to sleep.
I donāt know if I would recommend this actuallyā¦
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