Forgetfullness

There is a great amount of disorder shown in the poem "Forgetfullness" by Billy Collins. The poem is focused around the effects of aging and shows a dehuminized subject. He writes, "one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemishpere of your brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones." This line not only shows the loss of memory but it also mocks the retirment of people as they age and move away to warm southern climates. The poem continues to describe more aspects of memory loss and the person of old age becomes more and more dehumanized as they are characterized only by there memory loss. Billy Collins poem also shows disorder in the pattern that its written. For example the first stanza has 7 lines and the second has 3 and the third has 2. His poem has no specfic order in which its written and is scattered to maybe portray his message more effectivly. The scattered writting represents the scattered memory of the old.