The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller

A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.

Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.

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How to Forget

...is an art.

There’s an art to forgetting
so that the forgotten
never returns.

Some forgetting is only
a suspension of remembering,
allowing us time to reconsider
other aspects of the forgotten.

Some remembering is only
the stubborn refusal
to release our past
into oblivion.

Some forgetting is innocent.
Some remembering is inevitable.

Some of us will master
the art of forgetting,
while others will prefer
to remember forever.