Jamais Vu, Presque Vu

Jamais vu, never seen

an odd impression that you

see a common thing

you’ve seen a thousand times

for the first time

the face of a relative, say

or the face in the mirror

But the mirror doesn’t count, does it? Nobody

but you knows what that looks like,

backwards, with your best expression frozen

your head tilted down

Presque Vu, almost seen

is different, that place where your will

is thwarted by your limitations

as you try to remember something

you should know, you do know

or did know but

don’t know, not now

and the painless way you saw yourself

is given the lie because you are left knowing

that you, the only witness to your life

are wholly unreliable

The Daily Post: Variations on a Theme