Unburn the boat, rebuild the bridge,
Reconsecrate the sacrilege,
Unspill the milk, decry the tears,
Turn back the clock, relive the years
Replace the smoke inside the fire,
Unite fulfilment with desire,
Undo the done, gainsay the said,
Revitalise the buried dead,
Revoke the penalty and the clause,
Reconstitute unwritten laws,
Repair the heart, untie the tongue,
Change faithless old to hopeful young,
Inure the body to disease
And help me to forget you please.
by Duncan Forbes
I would like to hear others’ interpretation of this poem.
Just as it is impossible to unspill milk, or go back in time, or any of the other impossible things Forbes mentions in his poem, it is impossible that he will ever forget his lover.
Among my most favourite poems…I like this poet very much. This was the first poem I learned by heart, but not, by a long chalk, the last.