Past Pixelation

Perception’s simply crisper
Than memory—recollect
A scene, and only the high,

Blurry representation
Fires up at every level.
In perception, the lower,

Earlier neural levels
Track tightly focused places
In your sensory input,

But when you’re remembering,
The input is the higher,
Synthesized recollection,

And all the levels reflect
That thirty-thousand foot view.
Memory is an atlas

Of bright maps that can’t expand.
What’s in print is what you get.
That’s how you know if you’re here

Or recalling being here—
Can you zoom in on details,
Fine grain in an enlarged frame?

The advantage of being
Present, touted by poets,
Scientists, mystics, artists,

And professional athletes,
Is the inexhaustible
Reward of further details.

The advantage of musing
On what you can remember
Is the mercy of the blur.